babushka

[ buh-boosh-kuh, -boosh- ]

noun

1. a woman's scarf, often triangular, used as a hood with two of the ends tied under the chin.
2. an elderly Russian woman, especially an elderly grandmother.

babushka

/ bəˈbuːʃkə /

noun

1. a headscarf tied under the chin, worn by Russian peasant women
2. (in Russia) an old woman

Word History and Origins

Origin of babushka¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from Russian bábushka “grandmother,” from báb(a) baba ¹( def ) + -ushka, diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of babushka¹

Russian: grandmother, from baba old woman

Example Sentences

As a boy, I hand-made pelmeni with my babushka Alla, my hands and face covered in flour as we worked in the cold of my grandparents’ basement in Paterson, New Jersey.

From Seattle Times

“My babushka put a salve on it. It’s almost all the way healed.”

From Literature

“She belonged to an old Khazar family. They escaped the old tsar’s slaughter. Fled north, like yer babushka. They had neighbors who...”

From Literature

“There was a 92-year-old babushka who was injured, and we put her on the stretcher and helped get her out.”

From New York Times

In some villages, babushkas lay down in the roads blocking Ukrainian tanks, officers said, and in one, an especially cunning babushka kept stealing the soldiers’ helmets.

From New York Times