borzoi

Where does the word "borzoi" come from? It comes from Russian borzoi, and was adopted directly into English (1880s).

Borzoi’s story begins in Russian: borzoi meant “swift (hound).” From borzyi 'swift'; Russian nobles hunted wolves with borzoi packs, as in the Rostovs' wolf hunt in Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869). It reached English by 1880s as borzoi. The breed reached British dog shows in the 1880s; the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, founded in 1915, made a leaping borzoi its famous emblem. Today, borzoi means a tall, slender Russian wolfhound.

1. Stage 1 · Russian · 1600s borzoi "swift (hound)", from borzyi 'swift'; Russian nobles hunted wolves with borzoi packs, as in the Rostovs' wolf hunt in Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1880s borzoi "Russian wolfhound", the breed reached British dog shows in the 1880s; the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, founded in 1915, made a leaping borzoi its famous emblem.