Cyrillic

[si-ril-ik]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a script derived from Greek uncials and traditionally supposed to have been invented by St. Cyril, first used for the writing of Old Church Slavonic and adopted with minor modifications for the writing of Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and some non-Slavic languages of Central Asia.

2. of or relating to St. Cyril.

noun

1. Cyrillic script.

Cyrillic

/ sɪˈrɪlɪk /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the alphabet derived from that of the Greeks, supposedly by Saint Cyril, for the writing of Slavonic languages: now used primarily for Russian, Bulgarian, and Serbian

noun

1. this alphabet

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cyrillic¹

1835–45; < New Latin Cyrillicus, equivalent to Cyrill ( us ) Saint Cyril + -icus -ic

Example Sentences

Bulgarian, like Russian, uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and a complex grammar structure.

Read more on BBC

We saw fragments of that missile, now being collected as evidence: mangled metal pieces, some with Cyrillic lettering on them, gathered in a heap.

Read more on BBC

The presence of so many Russian troops in Hmeimim had affected the nearby city of Jableh, where storefronts a few miles from the airbase sported signs in Cyrillic as well as Arabic.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Russian tricolor is omnipresent, as is the Cyrillic alphabet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Russian is often heard on the street and local hospitals have signs in Cyrillic script.

Read more on New York Times