Samoyed

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

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

Historical Examples of samoyed

Now, this seems at once to connect the Aino with the Samoyed and the Lapp.
The Testimony of Tradition
David MacRitchie
The Samoyed shamans are, as a rule, the most intelligent and cunning of the whole race.
The Origin of Man and of his Superstitions
Carveth Read
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
Mr. Serebrenikoff writes Samodin instead of Samoyed, considering the latter name incorrect.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
A.E. Nordenskieold
These plains are early free of snow, and are covered with a rich turf, which yields good pasture to the Samoyed reindeer herds.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
A.E. Nordenskieold

British Dictionary definitions for samoyed

Samoyed

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 FormsSamoyedic, 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

Word Origin and History for samoyed

Samoyed

Siberian Mongolian people, 1580s, from Russian samoyed (11c.), traditionally literally "self-eaters," i.e. "cannibals" (the first element cognate with same, the second with eat), but this might be Russian folk etymology of a native name:

The common Russian etymology of the name Samoyed, meaning "self-eater," deepened the Russians' already exotic image of far-northerners. The most probable linguistic origin of Samoyed, however, is from the Saami -- saam-edne, "land of the people" [Andrei V. Golovnev and Gail Osherenko, "Siberian Survival: The Nenets and Their Story," Cornell University, 1999]

Which would make the name a variant of Suomi "Finn." The native name is Nenets. As the name of a type of dog (once used as a working dog in the Arctic) it is attested from 1889.