Etymology of the words ???????, ??????, ?????????

[William Ryan]

Vasmer does not list 'variant' but gives 'moment' as in use in the 
Petrine period if not earlier, probably via German. Shanskii's 
etymological dictionary says 'variant' as early 19th century from 
French, and notes also the forms 'var'jan' and 'varianta', both 
suggesting French origin. My edition of Reiff's dictionary (4th edn) 
1889 interestingly gives only 'varianta' and only in the sense of 
'variant in a text'.

 From Yandex (search "slovo sportsmen") I learn that the Slovar' 
inostrannykh slov, 1859, has the word 'sportsmen' in the sense of 'one 
who hunts with horse and hounds' (which indeed is the first meaning 
given in the Oxford English Dictionary), and that 'sportsman' appears 
earlier than 'sport'. This search for search "slovo sportsmen" brings up 
lots of curious information about current usage of the word. For fun try 
Gramota.ru  in which it is suggested that the word correct break is 
'sport-smen' and that '-smen' is a borrowed suffix. And one news site 
declares 'Davaite vspomnim, chto oznachaet "sportsmen". Eto sportivnaia 
smena" - perhaps a joke, since this etymology also appears several times 
in mocking anecdotes of ignorant teachers. One patriot says that he will 
not use the word 'sportsmen' because it is American - instead he uses 
'sportsmuzhchina'.

Will Ryan


Michelle Ort wrote:
> Dear Seelangers,
>
> I am trying to find out when and how the words "variant", "moment", and
> "sportsmen" entered the Russian language. Did they come from English,
> French, or somewhere else?
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Michelle Ort
> BA, The College of Wooster '09
> Fulbright ETA in Russia 2009-10
>
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