Samoyed

American  

[sam-uh-yed, suh-moi-id] / ˌsæm əˈyɛd, səˈmɔɪ ɪd /

noun

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

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

3. (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.

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Samoyed British  

/ ˌsæməˈjɛd /

noun

1. 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

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

3. 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

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Other Word Forms

• Samoyedic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Samoyed

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

Example Sentences

“He never has a bad day”: The Times’s Sarah Lyall visited Striker, a Samoyed who was a crowd favorite at last year’s show.

From New York Times • May 10, 2023

Trumpet beat a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed and a Lakeland terrier to take the trophy in the 146th Westminster.

From Washington Times • Jun. 22, 2022

Ms Freer was a runner-up in the Best in Show category at Crufts in 2014 with one her dogs, a Samoyed named Dan The Man.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2022

Certainly our party’s two dogs, including a Samoyed frolicking in a landscape resembling his native Siberian habitat, didn’t care about the snow conditions.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2021

But here was a photogram showing some Samoyed hunters, the very doubles of the ones who’d caught Lyra and sold her to Bolvangar.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman