зэк

See also: зек

Russian

Alternative forms

зек (zɛk)

Etymology

Shortening of заключённый каналоармеец (zaključónnyj kanaloarmejec), via the initialism З-К. Заключённый is the adjective "prisoner". Каналоармеец, "member of the canal army", was coined in an analogy with the words красноармеец meaning "member of the Red Army" or трудоармеец (member of a labor army). In 1932, when Anastas Mikoyan visited the construction of the White Sea – Baltic Canal, Lazar Kogan told him "Comrade Mikoyan, how shall we call them? (…) I thought up the word: 'kanaloarmeyets'. What do you think?" Mikoyan approved it."^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [zɛk]
Audio: (file)

Noun

зэк • (zɛk) m anim (genitive зэ́ка, nominative plural зэ́ки, genitive plural зэ́ков, feminine зэ́чка, relational adjective зэ́ковский)

(colloquial) convict, inmate
Synonyms: ЗеКа (ZeKa), ЗК (ZK), (standard) осуждённый (osuždjónnyj )

Declension

Declension of зэк (anim masc-form velar-stem accent-a)

	singular	plural
nominative	зэ́к zɛ́k	зэ́ки zɛ́ki
genitive	зэ́ка zɛ́ka	зэ́ков zɛ́kov
dative	зэ́ку zɛ́ku	зэ́кам zɛ́kam
accusative	зэ́ка zɛ́ka	зэ́ков zɛ́kov
instrumental	зэ́ком zɛ́kom	зэ́ками zɛ́kami
prepositional	зэ́ке zɛ́ke	зэ́ках zɛ́kax

Descendants

→ English: zek
→ Ukrainian: зек (zek)

References

^ "White Sea Baltic Canal named after Stalin. The History of the Construction" (Беломорско-Балтийский кана́л и́мени Сталина. Исто́рия строи́тельства. / Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal imeni Stalina. Istoriya stroitel'stva) Moscow, 1934, p. 138

[1] "White Sea Baltic Canal named after Stalin. The History of the Construction" (Беломорско-Балтийский кана́л и́мени Сталина. Исто́рия строи́тельства. / Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy kanal imeni Stalina. Istoriya stroitel'stva) Moscow, 1934, p. 138

[1]