Samoyed

[ sam-uh-yed, suh-moi-id ]

/ ˌsæm əˈyɛd, səˈmɔɪ ɪd /

noun

a member of a Uralic people dwelling in W Siberia and the far NE parts of European Russia.

Also Samoyedic. a subfamily of Uralic languages spoken by the Samoyed people.

(sometimes lowercase) one of a Russian breed of medium-sized dogs that have long, dense, white or cream hair and are used by the Samoyed people for herding reindeer and pulling sleds.

Origin of Samoyed

First recorded in 1580–90, Samoyed is from the Russian word samoyéd

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for samoyed

During night we passed a place where five Samoyed tents were pitched, in whose neighbourhood a large number of reindeer pastured.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II|A.E. Nordenskieold
To the Samoyed, for instance, the reindeer which serves him as unit of value is wealth in the most concrete and tangible form.
The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays|Thorstein Veblen
Now, this seems at once to connect the Aino with the Samoyed and the Lapp.
The Testimony of Tradition|David MacRitchie
The Samoyed tent is commonly covered with reindeer skins, the Ostyak tent with birch bark.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II|A.E. Nordenskieold

Now the bow appears to have almost completely gone out of use, for we saw not a single Samoyed archer.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II|A.E. Nordenskieold

British Dictionary definitions for samoyed

Samoyed

/ (ˌsæməˈjɛd) /

noun

plural -yed or -yeds a member of a group of peoples who migrated along the Russian Arctic coast and now live chiefly in the area of the N Urals: related to the Finns

the languages of these peoples, related to Finno-Ugric within the Uralic family

(səˈmɔɪɛd) a Siberian breed of dog of the spitz type, having a dense white or cream coat with a distinct ruff, and a tightly curled tail

Derived forms of Samoyed

Samoyedic, adjective

Word Origin for Samoyed

C17: from Russian Samoed

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