What does borshch mean?
Borshch is a noun denoting the celebrated sour soup of Ukrainian cuisine, made with beetroot, which lends the dish its vivid crimson colour and earthy sweetness. Typically prepared with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, and dill, it is served hot and finished with a spoonful of sour cream, sometimes accompanied by dark bread or garlic rolls. The name is a direct transliteration from Ukrainian; the better-known English spelling 'borscht' arrived by way of Yiddish, while Polish uses 'barszcz'. Because the word identifies both a beloved national dish and a marker of cultural heritage, writers often choose 'borshch' deliberately to signal the soup's Ukrainian roots. In modern usage it appears on restaurant menus, in cookbooks, and in discussions of Eastern European food traditions, where it carries warm connotations of home cooking, hospitality, and comfort on a cold day.
nounA sour soup of Ukrainian origin made with beetroot as its principal ingredient, giving it a distinctive deep-red colour, typically served hot with sour cream.
- The traditional Ukrainian beetroot soup, served hot with sour cream.
"On cold winter evenings, her grandmother would simmer a pot of borshch fragrant with dill and garlic."
"She ladled steaming borshch into bowls and set out a dish of thick sour cream."
"The restaurant's menu described its borshch as a recipe handed down through three generations."
Rarely pluralised; the dish is normally referred to in the singular or as 'bowls/servings of borshch'.
"The kitchen turned out dozens of bowls of borshch for the festival."
That brilliant ruby bowl of soup? Its name travelled to English through Yiddish and Polish before anyone in the West had ever tasted a beet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of borshch
The word derives from the Ukrainian 'борщ' (borshch), which itself descends from an older Slavic term originally referring to a plant — likely hogweed or a similar herb whose stalks were fermented to make an early sour soup before beetroot became standard. The name entered Western European languages through Polish 'barszcz' and Yiddish 'borsht', with English adopting the Yiddish-influenced spelling 'borscht', later joined by the more literal transliteration 'borshch'. Cognate forms across Slavic languages include Russian 'borshch' and Polish 'barszcz', all tracing back to this shared Slavic root.
How borshch is actually used
The word is uncountable or countable depending on context; it is often treated as a mass noun ('some borshch', 'a bowl of borshch'). The spelling 'borshch' reflects the Ukrainian original, whereas 'borscht' entered English earlier via Yiddish and remains far more widespread in everyday American usage. 'Borshch' tends to appear in culinary writing that emphasises the dish's Ukrainian identity.
Easily confused with borshch
Both spellings refer to the same beetroot soup; 'borshch' is the transliteration from Ukrainian, while 'borscht' comes via Yiddish and is the more common form in American English.