A. J. Lohwater's Russian-English Dictionary of the Mathematical Sciences

Of course, this process of breaking words into their components is not always straightforward. Often, consonant alternations have occurred, as well as truncation of the final consonant of the root before the suffixes and/or endings are added. Most Russian roots are of the form consonant-vowel-consonant; thus, if the root appears to end in a vowel, either it is foreign or the final consonant has been truncated. Also, consonant-consonant roots occur; the fill vowels о/е usually occur between the consonants when they are used in words. For instance, the root бр- means "take"; in the present tense of the verb брать, "to take," the stem is бер-, as in the first-person singular form я беру.

Many Russian words have been borrowed from Latin; therefore, it is often helpful to translate the Russian components directly to Latin, which in turn gives the English. For example, the verb подписать is broken down into под/пис/а/ть. The prefix под- means "under, below," the root пис- means "write, scribe," and the suffix -а- is verbal. Unfortunately, these clues do not give a clear definition of the word. However, by using the Latin equivalents, the reader is able to arrive at the correct definition; "under, below" is "sub-" in Latin, and "scribe, write" is "scribe" in Latin: подписать is "to subscribe."

The following list contains prefixes, roots, and nominal suffixes (i.e., those suffixes which form nouns) and consists only of the most common elements. Remember also that prefixes may not always indicate a specific meaning; in the imperfective/perfective verb pairs писать/написать, делать/сделать, the prefixes на- and с- indicate perfectivity, not the meanings "onto," "off of." Within each entry, separate meanings are set apart by a semicolon. While using the root list, keep in mind the following consonant alternations:

щ   from   ск, ст	ш   from   с, к
ж   from   з, г, д	ч   from   к, т
жд   from   д	мл, пл, вл, бл, фл   from   м, п, в, б, ф

Common Prefixes

БЕЗ- without

В- in, into

ВЗ-, ВОЗ- up

ВНЕ- outside

ВНУТРИ- inside

ВЫ- out (of); to completion

ДО- up to; before; add to

ЗА- begin; beyond

ИЗ- out (of)

МЕЖДУ- between

НА- on, onto

НАД- over

НАИ- superlative

НЕ- not

НИЗ- down

О-, ОБ- (a)round

ОКОЛО- around

ОТ- from, away from

ПЕРЕ-, ПРЕ- across; again

ПО- perfective prefix; a little; along; after

ПОД- under; go up to

ПРЕД- before

ПРИ- up to; near

ПРО- through

ПРОТИВО- anti-

РАЗ- apart

С-, СО- with; off of, from the top

СВЕРХ- super-

У- away

ЧЕРЕЗ-, ЧРЕЗ- across

Common Roots

БЕГ- run

БЕР- see БР-

БЕРЕГ- bound, limit

БЛИЗ- close, near

БЛЮД- observe

БОК- side

БОЛ- large

БР- take

БРЕГ- see БЕРЕГ-

БУД- future

БУКВ- letter

БЫВ- exist, be

БЫЙ- see БЫВ-

БЫСТР- quick

ВЕД- know

ВЁД- lead

ВЁЗ- convey, carry

ВЕЛ- great, big

ВЕР- believe, true

ВЕРХ- top, upper

ВЕТ- say

ВИД- see, view

ВН- out, outside

ВНУТР- see НУТР-

ВОД- see ВЕД-

ВОЗ- see BEЗ-

ВОЛ- free

ВОЛН- wave

ВОР- steal

ВОРОТ- turn

ВРАТ- see BOPOT-

ВРЕМ(ЁН)- time

ВС- all, entire

ВСТРЕТ- meet

ВТОР- second

ВЫС- high

ВЯЗ- bind, tie, adjoin

ГЛАВ- head; chief

ГЛАД- smooth

ГЛАЗ- eye

ГЛУБ- deep

ГЛЯД- look, glance

ГОВОР- talk, speech

ГОД- time, year

ГОЛОВ- head

ГОЛОС- voice

ГОРОД- city, town

ГОТОВ- ready

ГРАД- see ГОРОД-

ГРАН- border

ГРОМ- huge

ГРУЗ- load

ГУБ- ruin

ГУСТ- thick

ДАД- see ДАЙ-

ДАЙ- give

ДАЛ- far

ДАЛЕК- see ДАЛ-

ДАН- see ДАЙ-

ДАР- gift, give

ДАТ- see ДАЙ-

ДВ- two

ДВИГ- move

ДВИН- see ДВИГ-

ДВОЙ- two, dual

ДЕЙ- do, act, make

ДЕЛ-¹ make, do, deed

ДЕЛ-² divide

ДЕРЕВ- tree, wood

ДЛ- long

ДЛИН- see ДЛ-

ДН- bottom

ДОБ- convenient

ДОБР- good

ДОВЛ- satisfy

ДОЛГ- long

ДОРОГ- road

ДРАГ- see ДОРОГ-

ДРУГ- other

ДУМ- think

ЕСТ- exist

ЗАБЫВ- forget

ЗАД- back, rear

ЗB- call

ЗВОЛ- permit

ЗВУК- sound

ЗНАЙ- know

ЗНАК- sign

ИГР- play

ИД- go

ИМ- have, hold, take

ИМ(ЕН)- name

ИН- other

ИСК- look for

КАЗ- show

КАТ- roll

КЛАД- put

КЛОН- incline

КНИГ- book

КОЛ- round, ring

КОЛЕС- wheel

КОН- end, limit

КОР-/КОРН- root

КОРОТ- short

КОС- touch

КРАЙ- border

КРАТ- see КОРОТ-

КРИВ- curve

КРУГ- round, circle

КРЫЙ- cover

КУС- try

ЛАГ- lay

ЛЕВ- left

ЛЁГ-¹ light, easy

ЛЁГ-² lie

ЛЁТ- fly

ЛЕТ- summer, year

ЛИСТ- leaf; sheet

ЛОГ- put, lay

ЛОМ- break

ЛУЧ- ray

МАЛ- little

МЕДЛ- slow

МЕН-¹ change

МЕН-² less

МЕР- measure

МЕСТ- place, local

МЕТ- notice, mark

МНОГ- many

МОГ- able, might

МОЛОД- young

МОСТ- bridge

МОЧ- from MOГ-

МР- die

МЫСЛ- thought

НАРОД- people

НАУК- science

НЁС- carry

НИЗ- low

НОВ- new

НОС- see НЕС-

НУТР- inside

ОБОРОТ- turn

ОБРАТ- turn, reverse

ОД(И)Н- one

ОК- eye

ОПЫТ- experiment

ОСНОВ- base

ОСОБ- special, self

ОСТР- sharp, acute

ОШИБ- mistake

ПАМЯТ- memory

ПЕРВ- first

ПЕРЁД- front

ПИС- write, scribe

ПЛОХ- bad

ПОЗД- late

ПОЛ- half

ПОЛН- fill, full

ПОМН- remember

ПОМОГ- help

ПРАВ- right, correct; rule

ПРОБ- try

ПРОТИВ- against

ПРЯМ- straight

ПУТ- way, road

ПЫТ- try, attempt

РАБОТ- work

РАВ- even

РАН- early

РЕД- rare

РЕЗ- cut

РЁК-/РЕК- speak

РЕШ- solve

РИС- draw

РОВ- even, smooth

РОСТ- grow

САМ- self

СВЕТ- light; world

СВОБОД- free

СВОЙ- own

СЕРД- heart

СЕРЕД- middle

СИЛ- strength