шерсть (Russian)
Where does "шерсть" come from?
The Russian word 'шерсть' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*ḱer(s)-', which referred to rough hair or bristles. It evolved through Proto-Slavic as '*sьrstь' before entering Old East Slavic. This ancient lineage connects the word to other terms for body covering, including the English word 'hair' and the Lithuanian 'šerys', highlighting a shared ancestral description of coarse animal fibers.
Full etymology tree
- шерсть (šerstʹ) (Russian), 'fur, hair (animal hair or human body hair; contrast волосы and мех)'
- inherited сьрсть (sĭrstĭ) (Old East Slavic)
- inherited *sьrstь (Proto-Slavic), 'fur, hair, wool (usually rough or stiff)'
- derived *sьrxъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *ḱers- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to run'
- derived *ḱer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to grow, to make grow, to nourish'
- derived *ḱers- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to run'
- suffix *-tь (Proto-Slavic), 'Deverbative, creates nouns denoting act, state, objects or tools.'
- derived *sьrxъ (Proto-Slavic)
- inherited *sьrstь (Proto-Slavic), 'fur, hair, wool (usually rough or stiff)'
- inherited сьрсть (sĭrstĭ) (Old East Slavic)
Ancestors
- *sьrstь (Proto-Slavic)
Cognates and doublets
- hair (English)
- šerys (Lithuanian)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris