2017-02-21

свёкла, gen. свёклы. beet.

I heard the word свекла, more than once, but the more formal version is свёкла. The word is also attested in Ukranian, where the first syllable is stressed. In any case, it’s a loanword from Greek σεῦκλον, apparently a variant of τεῦτλον and σεῦτλον, which are found in LSJ. Shansky says that the Russian word was taken from the plural, σεῦκλα, but Vasmer states that the Old Russian word was сеϋклъ, which looks a lot more like the Greek word. I couldn’t find the etymology for the Greek word; the Greeks nowadays use a word derived from Turkish, παντζάρι.

I don’t know why many people now pronounce it свекла and I don’t know if it’s part of a larger phenomenon.

Portuguese beterraba has its origins in French betterave, which was composed from bette and rave, the former from Latin beta, the latter from Latin raphanus or rapum. English beet was also derived from Latin beta.

  • Portuguese: Desculpe a ignorância desde já, mas beterraba tem gosto de milho, sim!
  • English: I’ve been debating trying to add beets into my diet.
  • Greek: Τι θα λέγατε για μια δροσερή σαλάτα με παντζάρια;
  • Russian: Свёкла полезна как в сыром, так и в вареном виде.
  • French: Si la betterave ne te plait pas, tu peux toujours la remplacer par des fruits secs plus à ton goût.