отребье

Russian

Etymology

Associated with тереби́ть (terebítʹ). The presence of ⟨ре⟩ instead of ⟨ере⟩ is associated with the late loss of the pre-stressed vowel, or is associated with Old Novgorod or Old Pskov liquid metathesis.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɐˈtrʲeb⁽ʲ⁾je]
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

отре́бье • (otrébʹjen inan (genitive отре́бья, nominative plural отре́бья, genitive plural отре́бьев)

  1. (also plural, dated) scum, worthless remnants, waste, rabble, refuse
  2. (also plural, derogatory) the dregs of society, morally debased or criminal elements
  3. rags, tatters
    • 1847, Фёдор Достоевский [Fyodor Dostoevsky], “Часть первая. II”, in Хозяйка; English translation from Constance Garnett, transl., The Landlady, 1914:
      Там, у пе́чки, в кото́рой стря́палось ку́шанье, хлопота́ла ма́ленькая сго́рбленная старушо́нка, така́я гря́зная и в тако́м отврати́тельном отре́бье, что жа́лко бы́ло смотре́ть на неё.
      Tam, u péčki, v kotóroj strjápalosʹ kúšanʹje, xlopotála málenʹkaja sgórblennaja starušónka, takája grjáznaja i v takóm otvratítelʹnom otrébʹje, što žálko býlo smotrétʹ na nejó.
      There by the stove in which the cooking was done a little humpbacked old woman was busily at work, so filthy and clothed in such rags that she was a pitiful sight.

Declension

See also

References

  1. ^ Andrey Zaliznyak. Drevnenovgorodskij dialekt. Jazyki slavjanskoj kul'tury: Moskva. 2004. page 40-41
  • Šanskij, N. M. (2004), “отребье”, in Školʹnyj etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [School Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Drofa

Further reading