Skip to main content
Making sense of old handwriting

Russian Vocabulary: Religion


Below is an alphabetical list of religious terms found in Russian records. Each word is generally listed first in its modern nominative form, followed by relevant variants, including some with archaic spelling. If the word you are looking for is not found here, consider looking at our other word lists or the FamilySearch Wiki Russian Genealogical Word List. If you're still struggling to find the right word, it may be a person's or place name. Follow the guidelines listed under Practical Suggestions and use other resources on our site such as those found on the Names page.

Using the keyboard commands Ctrl+F (Windows) or Command+F (Mac) can be helpful when searching through word lists. Simply type the first few letters or a part of the word you know, and the search function will highlight any words in the list that contain that sequence of letters.

Abbreviation

Meaning

Abbreviation

Meaning

nom.nominative casemasc.masculine
acc.accusative casefem.feminine
gen.genitive caseneut.neuter
prep.prepositional caseplu.plural
dat.dative casepastpast
instr.instrumental casepres.present
arch.archaics.f.short form (for adjectives)

Russian

English

Examples

бракmarriage

(arch. бракъ)

бракосочетаниеwedding

(arch. dat. бракосочетанiю)

венчаниеwedding

(arch. gen. вѣнчанiя)

вероисповеданиеreligion, denomination

(arch. gen. вѣроисповѣданїя)

викарныйvicar
восточныйeastern

(fem. dat. восточной)

диаконdeacon

(arch. дiаконъ)

духовенствоclergy
духовная консисторияspiritual consistory

(gen. духовной консисторiи)

еврейJew (man)
еврейкаJew (woman)
еврейский
(arch. еврейскiй)
Hebrew, Jewish

(fem. prep. еврейской)

епархияdiocese

(gen. епархiи)

епископbishop
исповеданиеconfession

(arch. gen. исповѣданiя)

кирхшпильparish
(in some documents
from the Baltic region)

(gen. кирхшпиля)

кладбищеcemetery

(arch. кладбищѣ)

крещение
(gen. крещенiя)
baptism

(gen. крещенiя)

крещённыйbaptized

(fem. s.f. крещена)

(masc. s.f. крещёнъ)

ксёндзpriest (Catholic)

(arch. ксёндзъ)

литургияliturgy

(arch. acc. литургiю)

лютеранскийLutheran

(gen. лютеранскаго)

мусульманскийIslamic
обрезаниеcircumcision

(arch. gen. обрѣзанiя)

обручениеengagement, betrothal
обрядrite

(arch. обрядъ)

погребениеburial

(arch. погребенїе)

пономарьsexton
православныйOrthodox

(arch. gen. православнаго)

присутствиеpresence

(arch. prep. присутствіи)

приходparish

(gen. прихода)

прихожанинparishioner

(arch. gen. plu. прихожанъ)

причастие
(arch. gen. причастїѧ)
Communion

(arch. gen. причастiя)

протоиерейarchpriest

(arch. протоiерей)

псаломщикacolyte,
parish clerk

(arch. псаломщикъ)

раввинrabbi

(arch. раввинъ)

разведникdivorcé

(arch. разведникъ)

разведницаdivorcée
разводdivorce

(dat. разводу)

римско-католическийRoman Catholic

(arch. gen. Римско-Католическаго)

рождение
(gen. рожденїѧ)
birth

(gen. рожденiя)

свидетельwitness

(gen. plu. свидетелей)

святой
(abb. св., arch. gen. свѧтагѡ)
holy, saint

Св. Іоанна - of St. John

(arch. gen. святаго)

(prep. святомъ)

священникpriest

(arch. священникъ)

соборcathedral

(gen. собора)

таинствоordinance, sacrament
таинаordinance, mystery

(gen. plu. таинъ)

халицаhalizah
(Jewish religious ceremony)

(acc. халицу)

христианскийChristian

(arch. христiанскiй)

церковьchurch

(gen. церкви)

To view translations of specific words and phrases you may encounter in a certain document type, visit the corresponding Document Types page of this tutorial.


  1. Aleksey Savrasov, Печёрский монастырь близ Нижнего Новгорода, 1871, Oil on canvas. Wikimedia Commons.(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Savrasov_pascher_monastery.JPG : accessed 27 August 2024). This image is in the public domain.
data-content-type=""


Introduction
Paleography Introduction