If you, like me, grew up without speaking or understanding Polish, Russian, Belarussian, or Yiddish, this page may be useful in understanding some of the words found throughout Belarus Jewish genealogy sites and original documents. Please note that there may be a number of transliterated spellings of foreign words into English — the various spellings of Shchedrin is a good example of this. I've tried to use the spelling most commonly encountered, or the one I encountered, in this glossary.
There are some online translation resources that can be used in translating words, phrases, or complete documents. They are listed below this glossary.
| desyatin | also dziestiatun, dz. 1.09 hectares (10,900 sq. meters = 2.9 acres) |
| dolne | lower Pol; as in Ustrzyki Dolne (Lower Ustrzyki) |
| gmina | town Pol |
| gorne | upper Pol ; as in Ustrzyki Gorne (Upper Ustrzyki) |
| gubernia | province; pl . gubernii, guberne. Shchedrin is presently in the Minsk Gubernia. |
| kolkhoz | collective farm |
| miasto powiat | country town Pol |
| miasteczko | towns Pol |
| mila | seven versts |
| morg | same as wloka: 0.5599 hectares (1.38 acres) |
| pood | 16.38 kilograms (36.12 pounds) |
| shtetl | small village or town; pl. shtetlach |
| uezd | district |
| verst | also viost, wiorst: 1.06 kilometers (3500 feet, 0.663 miles) |
| volost | hamlet Pol |
| vysokoye | upper (same as wisoko), as in Vysokoye-Litovsk (Upper Litovsk) |
| wies | village Pol |
| wisoko | upper |
| wloka | 0.5599 hectares (1.38 acres) |
Google Russian-English Translator
Lexilogos Russian-English/English-Russian Translation
Freedict English-Russian/Russian English Dictionary
Foreignword.com - Belarusian, Russian, Czech, Polish, Slovenian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Chechen, Estonian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Romanian, Serbian...and more!
Cyrillic (Russian) Alphabet - while not providing translations, this will help you do letter-by-letter translations from Cyrillic to English.