Ukrainian winter words: from snowflakes to Shchedryk

Winter months with stories in their names

Ukrainian didn't borrow the Latin month names, so each one paints a picture of the season. Winter is no exception:

• грудень (hrúden) — December. Traditionally linked to груда, the frozen clods of earth on country roads.
• січень (síchen) — January. Usually explained by сікти, to cut: the month of biting cold, and of cutting timber.
• лютий (liútyi) — February. It literally means “fierce”. Anyone who has lived through a Ukrainian February will agree.

Winter itself is зима (zymá), and “in winter” is взимку (vzýmku). The adjective is зимовий (zymóvyi): зимова казка (zymóva kázka), “a winter fairy tale”, is what Ukrainians call a snowy landscape so pretty it looks unreal.

Snow, frost and ice

• сніг (snih) — snow. Іде сніг (idé snih), literally “snow is walking”, means “it's snowing”.
• сніжинка (snizhýnka) — snowflake. One of the prettiest words in the language, I think.
• мороз (moróz) — frost, freezing cold. Морозно (morózno) — it's frosty.
• ожеледиця (ozhelédytsia) — black ice, the invisible kind that sends you flying.
• бурульки (burúlky) — icicles; one is бурулька.
• завірюха (zaviriúkha) and хуртовина (khurtovýna) — a blizzard, a snowstorm. They're close synonyms; both have that howling, swirling sound in them.
• відлига (vidlýha) — a thaw, when winter briefly lets go.

My favourite winter sound has a verb of its own: сніг рипить (snih rypýt), “the snow creaks” — that crunch under your boots on a really frosty morning. And when something gives you chills, a song or a scary story, Ukrainians say мороз по шкірі (moróz po shkíri), “frost over the skin”.

Winter fun: sledges, skates and snowmen

• санчата (sancháta) or санки (sánky) — a sledge. Both words are plural only, like “trousers”.
• ковзани (kovzaný) — ice skates. Кататися на ковзанах (katátysia na kovzanákh) — to go ice skating.
• сніговик (snihovýk) — snowman.
• сніжки (snizhký) — snowballs. Грати в сніжки — to have a snowball fight.

Cosy words for cold evenings

This is where Ukrainian winter gets soft. If you know only one word from this section, make it затишок (zatýshok): the feeling of warmth, quiet and safety all at once. The adverb is затишно (zatýshno).

• теплий чай (téplyi chai) — warm tea; a гарячий (hariáchyi) one is hot
• гарячий шоколад (hariáchyi shokolád) — hot chocolate
• глінтвейн (hlintvéin) — mulled wine, sold at every winter market
• плед (pled) — a throw, a soft blanket for the sofa; ковдра (kóvdra) is the duvet on your bed
• шапка (shápka) — a hat; шарф (sharf) — a scarf; рукавички (rukavýchky) — gloves or mittens
• пуховик (pukhovýk) — a puffer coat, the unofficial national winter uniform

Useful phrases for a Ukrainian winter

• Мені холодно. (mení khólodno) — I'm cold. Note the dative мені: literally “to me it's cold”. Don't say Я холодний — that means “I'm a cold person”.
• На вулиці мороз. (na vúlytsi moróz) — It's freezing outside.
• На вулиці мінус десять. — It's minus ten outside. Ukrainians use Celsius and simply say мінус.
• Я змерз / Я змерзла. (ya zmerz / ya zmérzla) — I'm frozen. Man / woman.
• Одягнися тепліше! (odiahnýsia teplíshe) — Dress warmly! Polite form: Одягніться тепліше.
• Не застудися! (ne zastudýsia) — Don't catch a cold!
• Слизько! (slýzko) — It's slippery!

Christmas Eve and carols

Winter in Ukraine is also the season of the most beautiful traditions. Since 2023, Christmas has officially been celebrated on 25 December, so Святвечір (Sviatvechír), Christmas Eve, falls on 24 December. Some families still keep the old dates, 6 and 7 January.

On Святвечір the family gathers for a meal of twelve meatless dishes, дванадцять страв. The first is always кутя (kutiá): boiled wheat with poppy seeds, honey and nuts. There's узвар to drink, too — see my Ukrainian food words for more.

Then come колядки (koliádky), Christmas carols. Колядувати (koliaduváty) means to go from house to house singing them, and the singers, колядники, are rewarded with treats. One of the best-known carols begins:

Щедрий вечір, and the song the whole world knows

Щедрий вечір (shchédryi vechir), “the generous evening”, is the eve of the old New Year. It was traditionally celebrated on 13 January; with the calendar change, many now celebrate it on 31 December. On this evening people sing щедрівки (shchedrívky), New Year songs full of wishes for a rich, happy year.

Here's my favourite fact about Ukrainian winter. You almost certainly know a щедрівка already. Щедрик (Shchédryk), arranged by the composer Mykola Leontovych from a folk melody, was first performed in Kyiv in 1916. The Ukrainian National Chorus under Oleksandr Koshyts then took it on tour, and in 1922 sang it at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1936 Peter Wilhousky wrote new English words for it — and the world got “Carol of the Bells”.

The original isn't about bells at all. A swallow flies in and calls the master out to see his riches: the ewes have given birth to newborn lambs, his livestock is fine, he'll have a measure of money (or at least chaff), and he has a dark-browed wife. Next time you hear “Carol of the Bells” in a shopping mall, you'll know it's a Ukrainian swallow singing.

One more winter figure: Святий Миколай (Sviatýi Mykolái), Saint Nicholas, who leaves presents under children's pillows. His day, too, moved with the new calendar: it's now 6 December.

Bring the winter words to life

If you'd like to talk about your winter — and sing a line of Щедрик with the right stress — come to my Ukrainian lessons online. For holiday greetings, read how to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Ukrainian, and for more words like затишок, see Ukrainian words with no English equivalent. New to Ukrainian? Start with my free guide to your first 100 Ukrainian words.