matryoshka
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Russian матрёшка (matrjóška), from personal name Матрёна (Matrjóna), formerly Матрона (Matrona), ultimately from Latin mātrōna (“matron”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (UK) /ˌmætɹɪˈɒʃkə/, (US) /ˌmɑtɹiˈoʊʃkə/
- Hyphenation: ma‧try‧osh‧ka
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
matryoshka (plural matryoshkas or matryoshki)
- One of a set of wooden Russian dolls of different sizes, designed such that each fits inside the next. [from 20th c.]
- Synonyms: babushka, babushka doll, matryoshka doll, Russian doll
- 2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, page 35:
- The past is not only a foreign country that we half knew existed; it is hiding another concealed country behind it, and behind that one, another, and another – like a set of Russian matryoshki, in which larger dolls conceal smaller.
Derived terms
Translations
Russian doll — see Russian doll
Further reading
- Matryoshka doll on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Portuguese
Noun
matryoshka f (plural matryoshkas)
- alternative spelling of matrioshka