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samovar

[sam-uh-vahr, sam-uh-vahr]
See more synonyms for samovar on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a metal urn, used especially by Russians for heating water for making tea.

Origin of samovar

1820–30; < Russian samovár, equivalent to samo- self (see same) + -var, noun derivative of varítʾ to cook, boil
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for samovar

container, jar, vase, ossuary, pitcher, ewer, capsule, cistern, vessel, samovar

Examples from the Web for samovar

Historical Examples of samovar

  • But there was no more water in the samovar, so the hostess did not fill it up for him.

    Master and Man

    Leo Tolstoy

  • The samovar is hissing on the table by the stove, the tea things are set out.

  • The samovar, or Russian tea-urn, is boiling in the great room.

    From Pole to Pole

    Sven Anders Hedin

  • "So I have been told," said Malcolm, as he filled a glass with tea from the samovar.

  • The samovar is always boiling and some one is always drinking tea there.

British Dictionary definitions for samovar

samovar

noun
  1. (esp in Russia) a metal urn for making tea, in which the water is heated esp formerly by charcoal held in an inner container or nowadays more usually by electricity

Word Origin for samovar

C19: from Russian, from samo- self (related to same) + varit' to boil
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for samovar
n.

1830, from Russian samovar, literally "self-boiler," from sam "self" (see same) + varit "to boil" (from Old Church Slavonic variti "to cook," from PIE root *wer- "to burn"); but this is perhaps folk-etymology if the word is from Tatar sanabar "tea-urn."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper