Samoyed

American  

[sam-uh-yed, suh-moi-id] / ˌsæm əˈyɛd, səˈmɔɪ ɪd /

noun

1. a member of a Uralic people dwelling in W Siberia and the far NE parts of European Russia.

2. Also a subfamily of Uralic languages spoken by the Samoyed people.

3. (sometimes lowercase) one of a Russian breed of medium-sized dogs that have long, dense, white or cream hair and are used by the Samoyed people for herding reindeer and pulling sleds.

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Samoyed British  

/ ˌsæməˈjɛd /

noun

1. a member of a group of peoples who migrated along the Russian Arctic coast and now live chiefly in the area of the N Urals: related to the Finns

2. the languages of these peoples, related to Finno-Ugric within the Uralic family

3. a Siberian breed of dog of the spitz type, having a dense white or cream coat with a distinct ruff, and a tightly curled tail

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Other Word Forms

• Samoyedic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Samoyed

First recorded in 1580–90, Samoyed is from the Russian word samoyéd

Example Sentences

Trumpet beat a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed and a Lakeland terrier to take the trophy in the 146th Westminster.

From Washington Times • Jun. 22, 2022

What makes the snow-white Samoyed shine in competition?

From Seattle Times • Jun. 22, 2022

Ms Freer was a runner-up in the Best in Show category at Crufts in 2014 with one her dogs, a Samoyed named Dan The Man.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2022

Last year the top prize went to the Samoyed booth, “which had a demonstration of how you can take the fur from the Samoyed and spin it into yarn,” Ms. DiNardo said.

From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2015

The lead Samoyed passed little Willy and pulled up even with Searchlight.

From "Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner