izba

or is·ba

[ iz-bah ]

noun

1. the traditional log house of rural Russia, with an unheated entrance room and a single living and sleeping room heated by a clay or brick stove.

Word History and Origins

Origin of izba¹

1775–85; < Russian izbá (diminutive istópka ), Old Russian istŭba house, bath, cognate with Serbo-Croatian ìzba small room, shack, Czech jizba room, Old Czech jistba, jizdba, all < Slavic *jĭstŭba ≪ Vulgar Latin *extūfa, with short u perhaps < Germanic *stuba; stove ¹

Example Sentences

The impoverished neighborhood of Izba is one sign of how constant wars have shaped Khartoum.

From US News

Before the 1989 coup that brought al-Bashir to power, Izba was a small community of Arab tribesmen who settled on the capital's edge.

From US News

Here are six trends in the wine industry that are taking off this spring: The Wine Expo saw a strong subset of exhibitors from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, such as Bulgaria’s Izba Karabunar , Lebanon’s Ixsir and Greece’s Chatzivaritis, who aim to capitalize on increasing consumer interest in discovering wines that are new to the American market.

From Time

The peasant, transported from Taganrog to Petropavlosk, finds there Russian peasants like himself; between him and them there can be mutual intelligence; in an hour they will be friends, and live comfortably together in the same izba or the same barrack.

From Project Gutenberg

Icons may still be seen without concealment in many a peasant izba, even in the collective farms.

From Time Magazine Archive