Face of Russia: Glossary


The Russian words listed here are used in The Face of Russia television programs.
chelobitnaya	beating of the forehead on the ground, especially before a ruler; a custom based on the kow-tow, inherited from the days of Mongol rule
domovoi	a pagan god, a house spirit, sometimes visualized as an elongated carved wooden statue, whose presence is necessary to protect a home
dvoeverie	dual belief; the simultaneous faith in both the pagan gods of nature and the Christian God and saints
dvor	the court; an open space
dvorianin	aristocrat or courtier
kremlin	a strong place or fortified citadel within a city
mir	literally, world; in tsarist Russia, a village community or gathering of peasants
nebo	heaven; in wooden Russian Orthodox churches the nebo is a circle at the center of the ceiling, made of wedge-shaped holy pictures
podvizhniki	spiritual heroes
pokayanie	repentance; also the name of an anti-Soviet film of the Gorbachev period by Georgian director Tengiz Abuladze
prostite	“forgive me”; said by Russians to each other in church before taking Holy Communion
pustyn	literally, a desert; remote church built by missionary monks in the northern regions of Russia; one of the numerous links between Russian Orthodoxy and early Semitic Christianity
sobor	gathering; also, cathedral
sobornost	sense of spiritual communality; one of the distinctive features of Russian Orthodoxy
troika	a Russian sleigh or carriage pulled by a team of three horses running abreast
volia naroda	literally the will of the people; also the name of a revolutionary group formed in 1879 and responsible for the assassination in 1881 of Alexander II