Cyrillic

[ si-ril-ik ]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a script derived from Greek uncials and traditionally supposed to have been invented by St. Cyril, first used for the writing of Old Church Slavonic and adopted with minor modifications for the writing of Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and some non-Slavic languages of Central Asia.
2. of or relating to St. Cyril.

noun

1. Cyrillic script.

Cyrillic

/ sɪˈrɪlɪk /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the alphabet derived from that of the Greeks, supposedly by Saint Cyril, for the writing of Slavonic languages: now used primarily for Russian, Bulgarian, and Serbian

noun

1. this alphabet

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cyrillic¹

1835–45; < New Latin Cyrillicus, equivalent to Cyrill ( us ) Saint Cyril + -icus -ic

Example Sentences

The Russian tricolor is omnipresent, as is the Cyrillic alphabet.

From Los Angeles Times

Russian is often heard on the street and local hospitals have signs in Cyrillic script.

From New York Times

Indeed, on Thursday, a new user on the forum claimed a hacker known as “thekilob” had stolen more than 55,000 records and exclaimed “Glory to Russia” in Cyrillic.

From Washington Times

The holidays are past, even the post New Year’s Cyrillic parties we called “Serbian Christmas” growing up in western Pennsylvania are faint memories obscured by rocket booms in Ukraine.

From Los Angeles Times

One of them begins, “And now I watch another era fade, / Cyrillic letters scraped from shuttered storefronts, / tar-crusted bread, stale fish, stiff marmalade / sit sulking on the shelves, unchosen orphans.”

From Los Angeles Times