ꙁаѩць

See also: заѩць and заѧць

Old Novgorodian

ꙁаѩць

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *zàję̄cь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źṓjinkas (“hare”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰṓy-in-kos (“frisky animal”), from *ǵʰey- (“to drive”). First attested in c. 1120‒1140. Cognate with Old East Slavic заѧць (zajęcĭ), Old Church Slavonic заѩць (zajęcĭ), Old Polish zając.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ꙁа‧ѩ‧ць

Noun

ꙁаѩць • (zajęćĭ) m

1. (hapax legomenon) hare
   • c. 1120‒1140, Kovalev, Roman K., transl., Берестяная грамота № 842 [Birchbark letter no. 842]‎^[2], Novgorod:

     … а середѣ ·в҃· свиньи хрьбьта ·в҃· а ·г҃· ꙁаѧцѣ и тетеревѣ · и кълъбасоу а конѧ ·в҃· и сторова

     … a seredě 2 svinĭi xrĭbĭta 2 a 3 zajęćě i teterevě · i kŭlŭbasu a konę 2 i storova

     And on Wednesday (we sent) 2 pigs, 2 spines (of meat), 3 hares, black grouse, and sausage, and two steeds, healthy ones.

Derived terms

proper nouns

• Ꙁаѩць m (Zajęćĭ) (first name)

Further reading

• “ꙁаѩць”, in “Birchbark Letters Corpus”, in Russian National Corpus, https://ruscorpora.ru, 2003–2025