Cyrillic

views updated May 29 2018

Cy·ril·lic / səˈrilik/ • adj. denoting the alphabet used by many Slavic peoples, chiefly those with a historical allegiance to the Orthodox Church. Ultimately derived from Greek uncials, it is used for Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and other Slavic languages.• n. the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

Cyrillic

views updated May 29 2018

Cyrillic Alphabet based on Greek letter forms that is now used for writing several Slavic languages, most notably Russian and Serbian.

World Encyclopedia

Cyrillic

views updated May 18 2018

Cyrillic of the alphabet used by Slavonic peoples in the Eastern Church, the invention of which is traditionally attributed to the Greek missionary Cyril (IX). XIX; see -IC.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD