Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Siberia” come from?

Siberia comes from Russian Сибирь, whose ultimate origin and meaning are unknown.

Siberia (English): A cold, inhospitable place or place of exile

Definitions

  1. A cold, inhospitable place or place of exile

Ancestry of “Siberia”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinSiberia—
2Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
3Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
4Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “Siberia”

  • Siberian
  • Paleosiberian
  • siberite
  • Trans-Siberian
  • Siberianist
  • 西伯利亞
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →