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Kiev.

Alternative form of Kyiv:

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name/ˈkiːɛv//ˈkiːɛf//ˈkiːɪv//ˈkjɛv/
  1. Alternative form of Kyiv: The capital city of Ukraine and the administrative centre of Kyiv Oblast.

  2. Alternative form of Kyiv: An oblast of Ukraine. Seat: Kyiv.

  3. Alternative form of Kyiv: The government of Ukraine.

    metonymically
  4. Synonym of Kievan Rus: a former principality in Europe centered on Kyiv.

    historical
Where this word comes from

From Russian Ки́ев (Kíjev), from Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ), which folk-etymology derives from the name of city's legendary founder Kyi. Other proposals derive it from Proto-Slavic *kyjь (“stick, club, hammer”) (compare to Russian кий (kij)). See also at the article about Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ).

noun/ˈkiːɛv//ˈkiːɛf//ˈkiːɪv//ˈkjɛv/
  1. Alternative form of kiev (“chicken Kiev or similar dish”).

    alt-of · alternative · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Russian Ки́ев (Kíjev), from Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ), which folk-etymology derives from the name of city's legendary founder Kyi. Other proposals derive it from Proto-Slavic *kyjь (“stick, club, hammer”) (compare to Russian кий (kij)). See also at the article about Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.