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Kubyshka

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Type of East Slavic ceramic vessel
Kubyshka, 17th century

Kubyshka is an early East Slavic ceramic jar or pot with narrow hole, short or absent neck and wide, rounded body. In the past the term kubyshka, a diminutive derivation from the word Куб (kub) in the generic meaning of "container", had a broader meaning of various rounded containers, e.g. a barrel or birch bark kubyshka.

A 12-13th century hoard in kubyshka

The word has become associated with buried hoards and is used in a number of idioms associated with hoarding or reserve saving (держать в кубышке (keep in a kubyshka), класть в кубышку (put into a kubyshka), etc.).

The word is also used as a euphemism or a nickname for a short, plump person. For example, in Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella, a wicked stepsister's nickname Kubyshka was variously translated as Fatty, Dumpy, etc. Princess Anastasia, the daughter of tsar Nicholas II of Russia was nicknamed "Kubyshka".

References

  1. ^ КУБЫ́ШКА, in: Словарь русского языка в 4-х томах (ru:Малый академический словарь) (A Dictionary of Russian Language), Moscow, Русский язык, 1999.
  2. Article "Куб" in: Max Vasmer, Etymological dictionary of the Russian language
  3. Vladimir Dahl, Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка
  4. A footnote in: The Nuclear Deception: Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis, p. 136
  5. James B. Woodward, Gogol's "Dead Souls" p. 179
  6. Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography, p. 419
  7. Helen Rappaport, The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg, p. 82
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