barszcz

• borszcz

From Polish barszcz. Doublet of borscht.

barszcz (uncountable)

1. (rare) Polish borscht.
   • 1921, Selected Polish Tales, page 7:

     Slimakowa looked him up and down, gave him a bowl of barszcz and another of potatoes, and told him to wash in the river.

   • 1990, Anton Gill, Berlin to Bucharest: Travels in Eastern Europe, page 62:

     She poured herself another glass of Bulgarian white, and spooned up the remainder of her barszcz before polishing off the small meat pasty that is always served with beetroot soup.

   • 1999, Cold War, Common Pursuit: British Council Lecturers in Poland, page 73:

     […] cutlery and glasses would appear and then dish after dish of fish en gelée, bowls of barszcz with twisted puff pastry sticks, bigos, pierogi, sliced ham, fresh and picked vegetables, bottled fruits, cakes, tarts and bottles and bottles of flavoured vodkas.

   • 2004, Helen McCourt Mentek, “The Wheel of Life”, in Ripples on a Puddle: A Collection of Short Stories, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 228:

     Women bustled about laying out large platters of chicken, kielbasa rings, heaping bowls of golabki, pierogi and steaming tureens of barszcz.

Usually italicised as a loanword.

• barzcz

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bъ̃rščь. First attested in the 15th century.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /baːrʃʲt͡ʃ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /bɒrʃʲt͡ʃ/

barszcz m animacy unattested

1. common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
   • 1900 [1419], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎^[1], number 5285:

     Barscz branca *uronia

     [Barszcz branca *uronia]

2. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. fermented liquid
      • 1885-2024 [1463], Jan Baudouina de Courtenay, Jan Karłowicz, Antoni Adam Kryńskiego, Malinowski Lucjan, editors, Prace Filologiczne‎^[2], volume V, page 12:

        Brzeczka, malon, barscz braxalium

        [Brzeczka, Malz, barszcz braxalium]

3. greater celandine (Chelidonium majus)
   • 1442, Wokabularz Raczyńskich, Biblioteki Raczyńskich w Poznaniu, sygn. 1360/I, page 69r:

     Celidonia herba quedam barzcz

     [Celidonia herba quedam barzcz]

• Polish: barszcz, barzszcz, barzcz (Middle Polish)
  • → English: barszcz
  • → Esperanto: barĉo
  • → Masurian: barsc
  • → Old Ruthenian: барщъ (baršč)
    • Belarusian: баршч (baršč)

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “barszcz”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “barszcz”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “barszcz”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “barszcz”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “barszcz”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “barzcz”, in Rozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków: Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

• barzszcz, barzcz (Middle Polish)

Inherited from Old Polish barszcz, with a semantic shift of hogweed > sour hogweed soup > other sour soups > beetroot soup.^[1][2][3][4] For the semantic shift, compare Ukrainian борщ (boršč).

• IPA^(key): /barʂt͡ʂ/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒrʂt͡ʂ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arʂt͡ʂ
• Syllabification: barszcz
• Homophone: Barszcz

barszcz m inan (diminutive barszczyk)

2. borscht (beetroot soup that can be served hot or cold, usually with sour cream; a single serving of this soup)

   Synonym: barszcz czerwony

4. hogweed, cow parsnip, pigweed (any plant of the genus Heracleum)
5. (obsolete, cooking) sourdough; sourdough starter; leavening agent

   Synonyms: rozczyn, zakwas

6. (obsolete, figurative) bad or sour wine
7. (obsolete) weak, low-quality ink for writing
8. (Middle Polish) żur (sour rye soup)

   Synonym: żur

• → English: barszcz
• → Esperanto: barĉo
• → Masurian: barsc
• → Old Ruthenian: барщъ (baršč)
  • Belarusian: баршч (baršč)

• barszcz in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• barszcz in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• barszcz in PWN's encyclopedia
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “barszcz”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Paweł Kupiszewski (23.07.2019) “BARSZCZ”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “barszcz”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “barszcz”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “barszcz”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 100