kraj

See also: kráj

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech kraj, from Proto-Slavic *krajь. By surface analysis, deverbal from krájet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kraj m inan

1. edge, periphery, outskirts
2. region

Declension

Declension of kraj (soft masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	kraj	kraje
genitive	kraje	krajů
dative	kraji	krajům
accusative	kraj	kraje
vocative	kraji	kraje
locative	kraji	krajích
instrumental	krajem	kraji

Derived terms

• krajan
• krajina
• krajka
• krajnice
• krajní
• okraj
• ukrajina

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “kraj”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “kraj”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Upper Sorbian kraj, from Proto-Slavic *krajь. Doublet of kšaj, which was inherited.

Noun

kraj m inan

1. region, land

   Synonym: kšaj

Declension

Declension of kraj

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	kraj	kraja	kraje
genitive	kraja	krajowu	krajow
dative	krajoju	krajoma	krajam
accusative	kraj	kraja	kraje
instrumental	krajom	krajoma	krajami
locative	kraju	krajoma	krajach

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “kraj”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “kraj”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• Lower Sorbian vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Old Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-eye-ti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *krájīˀtei

Proto-Slavic *krojiti?

Proto-Indo-European *krey-der.?

Proto-Slavic *kràjь

Old Czech kraj

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kràjь. By surface analysis, deverbal from krájěti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈkraj/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈkraj/

Noun

kraj m inan

1. edge, boundary, end (boundary line of a surface)
2. (chiefly in the plural) borderland
3. landscape, area, territory, country

Declension

Declension of kraj (soft o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	kraj	krajě	kraji, krajové
genitive	krajě	krajú	krajóv
dative	kraju	krajoma	krajóm
accusative	kraj	krajě	krajě
vocative	kraju	krajě	kraji, krajové
locative	kraji, kraju	krajú	krajích
instrumental	krajem	krajoma	kraji

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

Derived terms

• krajek

Descendants

• Czech: kraj

References

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “kraj”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-eye-ti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *krájīˀtei

Proto-Slavic *krojiti?

Proto-Indo-European *krey-der.?

Proto-Slavic *kràjь

Old Polish kraj

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kràjь. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /kraːj/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /krɒj/

Noun

kraj m inan

1. (attested in Lesser Poland) border (edge of a territory)
   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎^{scan transliteration, transcription}, numbers 2, 8, Krakow: Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament]:

     Dam cy... w trzimane twoie craie zemske (terminos terrae)

     [Dam ci... w trzymanie twoje kraje ziemskie (terminos terrae)]

   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^{transliteration, transcription}, section 13,11:

     Wiswolyl sobye Loth kray (regionem) podle Yordana

     [Wyzwolił sobie Lot kraj (regionem) podle Jordana]

2. (attested in Lesser Poland) edge, boundary, end (boundary line of a surface)
   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎^{scan transliteration, transcription}, numbers 132, 3, Krakow: Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament]:

     Yasz stanpa w kray odzena gego (quod descendit in oram vestimenti eius)

     [Jaż zstąpa w kraj odzienia jego (quod descendit in oram vestimenti eius)]

   • 1880-1894 [Fifteenth century], Sprawozdania Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności‎^[2], volume V, page 266:

     Ab oriente, hoc est ab illa plaga mundi, od onego krayv szwyatha, ubi sol oritur

     [Ab oriente, hoc est ab illa plaga mundi, od onego kraju świata, ubi sol oritur]

Derived terms

adjective

• krajny

noun

• krajnik

Descendants

• Polish: kraj, kráj (Western Kraków, Zebrzydowice, Podhale, Skawa)
• Silesian: kraj

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “kraj”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “kraj”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965), “kraj”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “kraj”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Alternative forms

• kráj (Western Kraków, Zebrzydowice, Podhale, Skawa)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈkraj/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /krɒj/
• (Greater Poland):
  • (Chełmno-Dobrzyń) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Kuyavia) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Central Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Eastern Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
• (Masovia):
  • (Suwałki) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Łowicz) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Sieradz) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Western Kraków) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Eastern Kraków) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Lasovia) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Biecz) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
  • (Goral):
    • (Podhale) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]
• (Borderlands):
  • (Northern Borderlands) IPA^(key): [ˈkraj]

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aj
• Syllabification: kraj

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-eye-ti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *krájīˀtei

Proto-Slavic *krojiti?

Proto-Indo-European *krey-der.?

Proto-Slavic *kràjь

Old Polish kraj

Polish kraj

Inherited from Old Polish kraj.

Noun

kraj m inan (related adjective krajowy)

1. country (territory of a nation)

   Synonyms: kraina, państwo

2. (government) krai (administrative division of some countries)
3. (chiefly dated or archaic or Kuyavia, Ruszków, Central Greater Poland, Ostrzeszów, Eastern Greater Poland, Sompolno, Łowicz, Sieradz, Wieluń, Radomsko, Kielce, Kije, Western Kraków, Sławków, Skała, Smardzowice, Siewierz, Chruszczobród, Rudawa, Bolechowice, Eastern Kraków, Gdów, Bochnia, Pińczów, Lasovia, Sandomierz, Stare Kichary, Biecz, Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, Przemyśl, San river, Podhale, Rabka-Zdrój) edge, boundary, end (boundary line of a surface)

   Synonym: skraj

   1. (Suwałki, Augustów Governorate, Western Kraków, Eastern Kraków, Gdów, Bochnia, Northern Borderlands, Lithania) edge (border of some place)

      kraj świata (Suwałki, Augustów Governorate, Western Kraków, Eastern Kraków, Gdów, Bochnia, Northern Borderlands, Lithania)

      edge of the world

4. (Chełmno-Dobrzyń, Kikół, Działyń, Western Kraków, Górna Wieś, Biecz, Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, Podhale, Rabka-Zdrój, Skawa, Odrowąż, Northern Borderlands, Samogitia, Żmudź) synonym of brzeg (“coast”)
5. (Przemyśl, San river, Podhale, Zakopane) synonym of początek (“beginning”)

Declension

Declension of kraj

	singular	plural
nominative	kraj	kraje
genitive	kraju	krajów
dative	krajowi	krajom
accusative	kraj	kraje
instrumental	krajem	krajami
locative	kraju	krajach
vocative	kraju	kraje

• the Western Kraków dialect (Sławków, Smardzowice, Górna Wieś), Eastern Kraków dialect (Gdów, Bochnia), Podhale dialect (Rabka-Zdrój, Odrowąż, Zakopane) show a genitive singular form kraja.

Derived terms

nouns

• Dzierżykraj
• kraina
• krajan
• obieżykraj

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), kraj is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 107 times in scientific texts, 193 times in news, 205 times in essays, 37 times in fiction, and 19 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 561 times, making it the 83rd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

kraj

1. second-person singular imperative of krajać

Further reading

• Modern Standard Polish:
  • “kraj”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • “kraj”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
  • Zygmunt Saloni, et al., editors (2020), “kraj”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[5], 4. online edition, Warszawa
• Middle Polish:
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “kraj”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • “KRAJ”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 06.09.2010
• Historic dictionaries:
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “kraj”, in Słownik języka polskiego
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “kraj”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “kraj”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 522
• Dialectal dictionaries:
  • Jan Karłowicz (1901), “kraj”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 2: F do K, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 463
  • Marzena Kozanecka-Zwierz, Magdalena Bartosiewicz, Renata Marciniak-Firadza, editors (2014), “kraj”, in Gwara – Księżaków "język ojczysty" Dziedzictwo regionu łowickiego (in Polish), Łowicz: Muzeum w Łowiczu, →ISBN, page 36

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *krajь, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁(y)-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krâːj/
• Rhymes: -âːj

Noun

krȃj m inan (Cyrillic spelling кра̑ј)

1. end, ending
2. rim, edge, verge
3. region, area
4. landscape, scenery
5. (archaic) land, shore

Declension

Declension of kraj

	singular	plural
nominative	krȃj	krȁjevi / kràjevi
genitive	krȁja	krȁjēvā / krajévā / kràjēvā
dative	krȁju	krȁjevima / krajèvima / kràjevima
accusative	kraj	krȁjeve / kràjeve
vocative	krȁju	krȁjevi / kràjevi
locative	krȁju / kràju	krȁjevima / krajèvima / kràjevima
instrumental	krȁjem	krȁjevima / krajèvima / kràjevima

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *krajь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krâj/

Preposition

krȁj (Cyrillic spelling кра̏ј) [with genitive]

1. near, next to, beside (= pȍred, pȍkraj, dȍ)

   Dođi, s(j)edni kraj mene. ― Come, sit next to me.

2. past, by (= pȍred, pȍkraj)

   Metak je proletio točno kraj mene. ― The bullet flew right by me.

3. (proscribed) in spite of, despite (= ȕprkos/ȕsprkos, pȍred)

   I kraj svega toga, preživio sam. ― And despite all of it, I survived.

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Silesian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-eye-ti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *krájīˀtei

Proto-Slavic *krojiti?

Proto-Indo-European *krey-der.?

Proto-Slavic *kràjь

Old Polish kraj

Silesian kraj

Inherited from Old Polish kraj.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkraj/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aj
• Syllabification: kraj

Noun

kraj m inan

1. country (territory of a nation)

   Synonyms: regiōn, krajina, państwo

2. edge, boundary, end (boundary line of a surface)
3. (government) krai (administrative division of some countries)

   Synonyms: rant, brzyg

   Antonym: postrzodek

Further reading

• kraj in silling.org

Slovak

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *kreh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroh₁y-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *kroyh₁-eye-ti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *krájīˀtei

Proto-Slavic *krojiti?

Proto-Indo-European *krey-der.?

Proto-Slavic *krajь

Slovak kraj

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *krajь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kraj/, [ˈkraɪ̯]
• Rhymes: -aj

Noun

kraj m inan (relational adjective krajový or krajský, diminutive krajíček)

1. edge
2. end
3. region

Declension

Declension of kraj
(pattern stroj)

	singular	plural
nominative	kraj	kraje
genitive	kraja	krajov
dative	kraju	krajom
accusative	kraj	kraje
locative	kraji	krajoch
instrumental	krajom	krajmi

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *krajь. First attested in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kráj/

Noun

krȁj m inan

1. place (location, position)
2. town, village or place

   Iz katerega kraja si ravnokar prišel? ― What place have you just come from?

3. end or beginning

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing.	kràj
gen. sing.	krája
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	kràj	krája	kráji
genitive (rodȋlnik)	krája	krájev	krájev
dative (dajȃlnik)	kráju	krájema	krájem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	kràj	krája	kráje
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	kráju	krájih	krájih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	krájem	krájema	kráji

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *krajь.

Noun

kraj m inan

1. country, land

Descendants

• → Lower Sorbian: kraj

Further reading

• “kraj”, in Mudra corpus [Upper Sorbian–Czech dictionary] (in Czech), 2024–2026
• “kraj” in Soblex