и́глу
ígluneuter
The Russian word for "igloo" is и́глу (íglu).
и́глу refers to an Inuit snow house.
Meaning: Inuit snow house (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is íglu.
Did you know?
- In Russian, the word и́глу sounds very similar to и́глы, which means 'needles'. A listener might momentarily confuse a mention of a snow house with a reference to pine needles or sewing tools.
- Indigenous Arctic peoples in Russia, such as the ненцы, traditionally used tents called чум rather than snow houses. Consequently, и́глу is viewed as an exotic foreign concept rather than a local tradition.
- Despite being a borrowed term from an Inuit language, и́глу is used in Russian to describe any temporary structure made of snow or ice, not just authentic Inuit dwellings.
Examples in context
- Это настоящее и́глу из снега.Eto nastoyashcheye iglu iz snega.This is a real igloo made of snow.
- Мы построили маленькое и́глу.My postroili malen'koye iglu.We built a small igloo.
- И́глу может быть очень холодным внутри.Iglu mozhet byt' ochen' kholodnym vnutri.An igloo can be very cold inside.
Example conversation
Ekaterina and Sergey are looking at a picture in a book about the Arctic.
- Екатерина EkaterinaСергей, посмотри, какое красивое и́глу!Sergey, posmotri, kakoye krasivoye iglu!Sergey, look, what a beautiful igloo!
- Сергей SergeyДа, Екатерина, оно выглядит очень уютным.Da, Ekaterina, ono vyglyadit ochen' uyutnym.Yes, Ekaterina, it looks very cozy.
- Екатерина EkaterinaТы думаешь, там тепло?Ty dumayesh', tam teplo?Do you think it is warm in there?
- Сергей SergeyНаверное, внутри и́глу довольно тепло.Navernyeye, vnutri iglu dovol'no teplo.Probably, it is quite warm inside the igloo.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “igloo” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
