кушать

Inherited from Old East Slavic кушати (kušati), from Proto-Slavic *kušati. Cognate with Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan, “to taste, to sample”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈkuʂətʲ]

• Audio:

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ку́шать • (kúšatʹ) impf (perfective поку́шать or ску́шать)

1. (of a guest, woman or child) to eat, to have (a meal)

   Synonym: есть (jestʹ)

Traditionally the word кушать is used in polite invitations to eat when speaking to a woman, a child, or especially to a guest. For other occasions the word есть (jestʹ) is used. In colloquial speech, however, the word кушать is often used instead of есть.

• ку́шанье n (kúšanʹje)

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “кушать”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.