Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/žьrьcь

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

From *žьrti (“to sacrifice”) +‎ *-ьcь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *girʔ-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH-.

*žьrьcь m

1. priest

• *gornъ
• *žьrica
• *žьrtva (“sacrifice”)

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: жре́ц (žréc)
    • → Czech: žrec
    • → Serbo-Croatian:žrec

      Cyrillic script: жре̑ц

      Latin script: žrȇc

  • Ukrainian: жре́ць (žrécʹ)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: жрьць (žrĭcĭ)

    Glagolitic script:

  • Bulgarian: жрец (žrec)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Polish: żyrzec
    • Polish: żerca (“Slavic pagan priest”)

• Derksen, Rick (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 567
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “жрец”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress