Poland Languages

Most materials used in Polish research are written in Polish. You do not need to speak or read Polish to do research in Polish records, but you should know some key words and phrases to understand the records. Because the Roman Catholic Church was the predominant religion in Poland, many records  are in Latin. Other languages in Polish records include German and Russian.

Polish grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, names of your ancestors will vary from record to record in Polish.

For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section in this outline.

Alphabet

Aa Ąą Bb Cc Ćć Dd Ee Ęę Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Łł Mm Nn Ńń Oo Óó Pp Rr Ss Śś Tt Uu Ww Yy Zz Źź Żż

The letters q, v and x are also used, but only for foreign names or words.

Pronunciation Guide

c = ts
ch,h = kh
ć,cz,ci = ch
ś,sz,si = sh
ż,zi,rz = zh
ą = om, on
ę = em, en
j = y
dz = j
ł = w
w = v

Language Aids

The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for Polish (34098), German (34067), and Latin (34077). The following books and English-Polish dictionaries can also aid you in your research. You can find these and similar material at many research libraries:

Kierst, W. English-Polish/Polish-English Dictionary. New York, New York: Saphograph Co., 1956. (FHL book 491.85321 K847e.)

Pogonowski, Iwo Cyprian. Practical Polish-English, English-Polish Dictionary. New York, New York: Hippocrene Books, 1985. (FHL book 491.85321P751p.)

Another valuable research tool for reading records of the former Russian territories of Poland is:

Frazin, Judith R. A Translation Guide to the 19-century Polish-language Civil-registration Documents: (Birth, Marriage and Death Records). 2nd ed. Northbrook, Illinois: The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1989. (FHL book 943.8 V27.)

To read the Russian language records of this same area after 1868 use:

Shea, Jonathan D. Russian Language Documents from Russian Poland: a Translation Manual for Genealogists. 2nd ed. Buffalo Grove, Illinois: Genun, 1989. (FHL book 943.8 D27.)

The Polish genealogical Word List published by the Family History Library is available at this link: http://204.9.225.220/eng/Search/rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Word_List.asp

Word List

This list contains Polish words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Polish-English dictionary. 

Polish is a Slavic language related to Russian and Czecslovakian. It is used in genealogical sources throughout Poland. Before 1918, Polish-speaking territories were divided between Russia, Germany, and Austria. Records written before 1918 may be in German, Russian, Latin, or Polish.

• In Russian Poland, Polish was the official language for vital records from 1808 to 1868. From 1868 to 1917, Russian was the official language.
• In German Poland, most records were kept in German or Latin, though some were kept in Polish.
• In Austrian Poland, most records were kept in Latin. Some records were kept in German and some in Polish.

Polish is also used in the records kept in some Polish communities in the United States.

Polish records often contain Latin and German words. See the German Genealogical Word List (34067) and the Latin Genealogical Word List (34077). Or at the following link:http://204.9.225.220/eng/Search/rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Word_List.asp

Language Characteristics

Polish words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter. Adjectives used to describe them must have the proper masculine, feminine, or neuter endings, for example:

stary maz-- old man

stara kobieta-- old woman

stare miasto-- old city

The endings of past tense verbs also change depending on the gender of the person or thing being described or performing the action. For example:

umarl-- he died

umarla-- she died

umarlo-- it [the child] died

Variant Forms of Words

In Polish, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who-whose-whom or marry-marries- married are examples of words in English with variant forms. In Polish any word may change, depending on usage. This word list gives the standard form of each Polish word. As you read Polish records, you will need to be aware that most words vary with usage.

The endings of words in a document will often differ from what you find in this list. For example, the document may use the word starego (old), but you will find it in this word list as stary (old).

Certain endings, called genitive, give the meaning "of" to a word. The following endings are typical:

Nouns Endings Adjectives

-a (masculine) -ego

-y or -i (feminine) -ej

-ów (plural) -ich or -ych

Thus, ojciec zmarlego means "father of the deceased."

Plural forms of Polish words usually change the singular word as follows:

Words ending in -a change to -y

Words ending in -o change to -a

A -y or -i is added to form the plural

The plural form may change the basic word, for example:

Singular	Plural
miasto =city	miasta= cities
powiat =district	powiaty =districts
brat= brother	bracia =brothers
zona=wife	zony=wives

Additional Resources

This word list includes words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Polish-English dictionary. Several Polish-English dictionaries are available at the Family History Library in the European collection. Their call numbers begin with 491.85321. See the "Encyclopedias and Dictionaries" section in this outline.

The following dictionary is available on microfilm for use in Family History Centers:

Stanislawski, Jan. English-Polish and Polish-English Dictionary.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: David McKay, 1946. (FHL film 1,045,473, item 1)

Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLISH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES

Other dictionaries and language helps, such as Polish grammar books, are listed in the Locality section under:

POLAND - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES

Key Words

To find and use specific types of Polish records, you will need to know some key words in Polish. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Polish words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Polish words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used to indicate marriage.

English	Polish
birth	urodzin, urodzony, urodzil, sie zrodzony
burial	pochowanie, pogrzeb
Catholic	rzymsko-katolicki
child	dziecie, dziecko
christening	chrzest, chrzciny, ochrzczone
death(s)	zgon(ów), zejsc, umarl, zmarl, smierci
father	ojciec
husband	maz, malzonek
index	indeks, skorowidz, register, spis
Jewish	zydowski, starozakonny, izraelici, mojzeszowy
marriage	malzenstw(o), slub(ów), zaslubionych
marriage banns	zapowiedzi
mother	matka
name, given	imie, imion
name, surname	nazwisko
parents	rodzice
parish	parafia
Protestant	ewangelicki, reformowany, protestancki, luteranski
wife	zona, malzonka, zamezna, kobieta
year

General Word List

This general word list includes words commonly seen in genealogical sources.  Numbers, months, and days of the week are listed both here and in the separate sections that follow this list.

In this list, optional versions of Polish words or variable endings (such as some plural or feminine endings) are given in parentheses.  Some Polish phrases and their translations are listed [in brackets] under the most significant Polish word, not the first word, of the phrase.  Words in parentheses in the English column clarify the definition.

                              

A

Polish	English
aby	so that
adoptowany	adopted
akatolicki	non-Catholic
akt	an entry in a register, record
akta małżenstw akta ślubów	marriage records
akta urodzin	birth records
akta zapowiedzi	banns records
akta zejść	death records
akta zgonów	death records
akuszerka	midwife
albo	or
ale	but
archiwum	archive
asystencya	assistance
austriacki	Austrian

B

Polish	English
babka	grandmother
bakałarz	teacher, bachelor
bałtycki	Baltic
będą	they will
będzie	he/she/it will
bez	without
bezdzietny	childless
bezimienny	unnamed, nameless
białoruski	Belorussian
biały	white
biegunka	diarrhea, dysentery
bierzmowanie	confirmation
bieżący	current (of the current year)
biskup	bishop
bliski	near
bliżnięta	twins
błogosławil	blessed
błogosławiony	blessed, the late
bo	because
bóg	the Lord
bólu	of pain
bożnica	synagogue
Boży	the Lord's
bracia	brothers
brak	lack of, is missing
brat	brother
bratanek	nephew
bratanica	niece
bratowa	sister-in-law
brzemienna	pregnant
burmistrz	mayor
być	to be
był	was (were)

C

Polish	English
cały	entire
ceglarz	brick maker
cesarski	imperial
cesarstwo	empire
chałupnik	cottager, poor peasant
chce	he wants
chłop	peasant, country fellow
chłopiec	boy
choroba	disease
chrzczony	christened
chrzest	christening
chrzestna, chrzestny	godparents
chwilowo	temporarily
ciocia (ciotka)	aunt
cementarz	cemetery, churchyard
co	what
córka	daughter
cudzoziemski	foreign
cukrzyca	diabetes
cyrkul	district (of a city), ward
cyrulnik	barber-surgeon
czarny	black
czas	time
czasopismo	magazine, periodical
czasowo	temporarily
czemu	why
czerwca	of June
czerwony	red
część	part, portion
czeski	Czech
często	often
członek	member
czterdzieści	forty
czterdziesty	fortieth
czterechsetny	four hundredth
czternaście	fourteen
czternasty	fourteenth
cztery	four
czterysetny	four hundredth
czterysta	four hundred
czwartek	Thursday
czwarty	fourth
czy	whether (introduces a question)
czyli	or
czynszownik	renter

 

 

E

emigracja emigration ewangelicki Evangelical, Lutheran

F

familia family farbiarz dyer febra fever felczer medical assistant folwark manor farm fornal farm wagon driver fryzjer barber

G

garbarz tanner gdy when gdzie where glisty intestinal worms glówny main gmina township, community godny worthy godzina hour golarz barber góra mountain, hill goraczka fever górny upper gorzelnia distillery gospodarz farmer (self-sustaining) granica border grecko-katolicki Greek-Catholic, Uniate (Greek rite, but under a Roman Pope) gromada group, cluster, hamlet, community grudnia of December grunt land, property gubernia Russian province

H

handlarz peddler, merchant herb coat of arms historia history

I

i and ich their imie (imiona) given name(s) imigracja immigration inaczej otherwise, alias inny other itd. and so forth iz that (know that he died) izraelici Jews

J

jak how, as jak duzo as much jaki what kind of jeden one jedenascie eleven jedenasty eleventh jedna one jednak but jego his jej her jest is jestescie you are jestesmy we are jeszcze still, yet jezioro lake jezyk language jutro morning, tomorrow juz already

K

karta page kaszel cough katolicki Catholic kawaler bachelor kazdy each, every kiedy when kilometr kilometer kobieta woman, wife kogo whom kolek of cramps kolki colic kolo around, near, by kolonista colonist, settler komornik tenant, poor peasant koncowy final, last konfirmacja confirmation koniec end konsumpcja ciala consumption, tuberculosis konto account konwulsje convulsions korcarz grain merchant kosciól church kowal smith kraj region, area, country krajowy local kramarz stall keeper, merchant krawiec tailor krewny blood-relative król king królestwo kingdom królewski royal krolowa queen krwotek bleeding, hemorrhage ksiadz priest ksiega book ksiestwo principality, duchy kto who który which, who kum godfather kuma godmother kunszt trade, occupation kupiec shopkeeper, merchant kupil he bought kuzyn cousin (male) kuzynka cousin (female) kwartal quarter (of a year or city) kwietnia of April

L

lacinski Latin las forest, woods lata years lecz but lesnik forester lewy left liczacy counting [lat ... liczacy] [... years old] linia line, lineage lipca of July listopada of November litewski Lithuanian lotewski Latvian loze status of legitimacy, bed [nieprawego loza] [illegitimate] lub or lud people ludnosc population lutego of February

M

ma has macocha stepmother maczarz miller madziarski Hungarian maja of May maja they have majacy having [lat ... majacy] [... years old] majatek property majetny wealthy, property-owning majster master craftsman malarz painter maloletni not of legal age maly small, little malzenstwo marriage malzonek husband malzonka wife malzonków of the married couple [malzonków Kowalskich] [the Kowalski married couple] mapa map marca of March martwo urodzony stillborn matka mother maz husband, man menonici Mennonites meski male metryka certificate, record meza of the husband mial he had miano name mianowicie that means, namely miasteczko small town miasto city miec to have miedzy between miejsce place, locality miejscowosc locality miescie town miesiac month mieszkajacy residing mieszkanie residence mieszkaniec inhabitant, resident, citizen mleczarz dairyman mlodszy younger mlody young [pan mlody] [bridegroom] [panna mloda] [bride] mlodzian (mlodziniec) young man mlyn mill mlynarz miller mniejszy lesser, smaller, shorter modlitwa prayer [dom modlitwy] [house of prayer, synagogue] mojzeszowy Jewish mórg morg (1.2 acres) most bridge

  maybe  

mumoze to him mularz, murarz mason (bricklayer) mylnie mistakenly, erroneously mysliwy hunter

N

---

na on, at, around nad above, upon nadac to give nadane was given najemnik day laborer najmlodszy youngest najstarszy oldest, eldest nalezal belonged to nalezy belongs nam to us naocznie by eyewitness naoczny swiadek eyewitness naprzód in front of narodzony born narzeczona betrothed, bride narzeczony betrothed, groom nas us nastepny next nasz our na teraz temporarily naturalny illegitimate natychmiast immediately nauczyciel schoolteacher, teacher nawiazanie reference nazwana named nazwisko surname nerwowa goraczka typhoid fever nic nothing nich them nie not, no niedaleko not far from niedziela Sunday, week niegdy (niegdys) deceased, former, the late niemiecki German niemowle infant niepielnoletni not of legal age, minor nieprawy illegitimate nieslubny unmarried, illegitimate nie teraz not yet niewiadomy unknown niezamezna unmarried woman nieznajomy unknown niezonaty unmarried man niezyjacy deceased, not living nigdy never nim him niniejszy this, the present niski low, short nizszy lower noc night nowozaslubiona newlywed bride nowozaslubiony newlywed groom nowozency newlyweds nowy new numer number

O

o about, concerning ob. see obecnosc presence oberzysta tavern keeper obrzed rite, ceremony obrzezanie circumcision obszar area obydwaj both obywatel inhabitant, citizen ochrzczony christened, baptized od from, since odbyty performed odmienny various odpowiadac to reply odra measles odwrócenie conversion oglasal announced, published ogrodnik poor peasant, crofter, gardener ojciec father ojczym stepfather okazal showed okolo about, around okreg precinct, district okupnik local resident olejów of oil on he ona she onegdajszy day before yesterday oni they opatrzony provided opiekun guardian opis description oplata fee, cost opuchlizna dropsy, edema, swelling oraz and, also osada large settlement osiadly settled (at), residing (at) osiem eight osiemdziesiat(y) eighty (eightieth) osiemnascie eighteen osiemnasty eighteenth osiemset(ny) eight hundred(th) oslabienie weakness ósmy eighth osoba person ospa of smallpox ostatni last, recent oswiadczenie statement oswiadczyl declared, testified otrzymal received owdowiala widowed owdowialy widowered ozenil sie married a wife ozeniony married

P

---

pan sir, Mr., Lord pani lady, Mrs. panna maiden, Miss panski Lord's [roku panskiego] [in the year of our Lord] panstwowy state, of the state parafia parish parobek farmworker pasierb stepchild pasterz herdsman pazdziernika of October pelnoletnosc age of consent, legal age piatek Friday piaty fifth piec five piecdziesiat(y) fifty (fiftieth) piecset(ny) five hundred(th) piekarz baker pierwszego on the first pierwszy first pietnascie fifteen pietnasty fifteenth pisac to write pismo letter, correspondence plci meskiej male plci zenskiej female plec gender, sex po after pochowanie burial pod under podatek tax podlug according to podobny similar podpis signature podpisany signed podrzutek foundling podwójny duplicate pogrzeb burial pogrzebany buried pól half pólnoc midnight, north pológ childbirth, labor polski Polish poludnie noon, south pomorski Pomeranian poniedzialek Monday poniewaz because poprzedni previous poprzedzil preceded posiada has, is in possession of poslubil married poszukiwanie research, search of potem after potok stream pow. (powiat) district powinowaty relative powyzsze previously mentioned pozostaly left behind, surviving pozostawil left behind, was survived by pozwolenie permission prababa (prababka) great-grandmother pracowity diligent, hard-working pradziadek great-grandfather prawdopodobnie in all likelihood, probably prawego loza legitimate prawny legal prawo law, right prawoslawny orthodox prawowity legitimate prawy right, true proboszcz parish priest prosba request prosimy we request protestancki Protestant pruski Prussian przed in front of, before przedtem before przekonal convinced przeslany sent przeszly preceding [roku przeszlego] [of the preceding year] przez by przodem before przodków of ancestors przy by, with, during przyczyna cause, reason przyjaciel friend przypadek circumstance, occurrence, case [z bojazni przypadku] [for fear of the circumstance (i.e., baptized on an emergency basis because the child was in danger of dying)] przyrodni step-, half-, (as in stepbrother, half brother) przytomnosc presence przyzwolenie consent puchlina dropsy, edema, swellling

R

---

r. (roku) in the year rabin rabbi rak cancer rano in the morning raz once, time [drugi raz] [second time] razem together reformowany Reformed Protestant, Calvinist religia religion religijny religious, of the church robotnik worker rocznik yearbook roczny annual ród family, clan, descent rodowód genealogy, pedigree rodzenstwo sibling rodzice parents rodzice chrzestni godparents rodzina family rok year rolnik tenant farmer, husbandman, farmer rosyjski Russian równiez also, too rozwiedziony divorced rozwód divorce ruski Russian, Ruthenian, Ukrainian rybak fisherman rynek marketplace rzadowy governmental rzeka river rzezak, rzeznik butcher, circumciser (mohel) rzymsko-katolicki Roman Catholic

S

---

sa they are sad court samy same sasiad neighbor setny one hundredth sie self siedem seven siedemdziesiat seventy siedemnascie seventeen siedemnasty seventeenth siedemset(ny) seven hundred(th) sierota orphan sierpnia of August siódmy seventh siolo village siostra sister siostrzenica niece siostrzeniec nephew skladal submitted, presented skonczyl completed skorowidz index skurcze cramps skutek cause slabosc weakness, sickness slaby weak slaski Silesian slawetny renowned slawny famous slowacki Slovak slownik dictionary slub marriage, wedding slubny married, wedded, legitimate sluga servant sluzaca servant girl sluzacy serving smierc death snac perhaps sobie self sobota Saturday spazenie burn spis list, census, index splodzone begotten, born spoleczenstwo society sprzedarz merchant, dealer sredni cental, middle, average sroda Wednesday srodek middle stan status, condition starosc old age starosta perfect starozakonny Jew (Orthodox) starszy older, elder stary old stawiajacy sie the one presenting himself stawil sie presented himself, appeared stelmach cart maker, wheel maker sto hundred stolarz cabinetmaker stolica capital city strona page stryj uncle (paternal) stulecie century stycznia of January suchoty consumption, tuberculosis sukiennik cloth-maker swiadectwo certificate swiadek witness swiety holy swój (swego) his, her own swója (swojei) his, her own syn son synagoga synagogue synowa daughter-in-law synowie sons szesc six szescdziesiat(y) sixty (sixtieth) szescset(ny) six hundred(th) szesnascie sixteen szesnasty sixteenth szewc shoemaker szkarlatyna scarlet fever szkola school szkolnik rabbi's assistant, teacher szlachecki (szlachety) noble szlachta nobility szlub see slub szósty sixth szwagier brother-in-law szwagierka sister-in-law szynkarz tavern keeper

T

---

t. (tom) volume taki such as takze also tam there tamowanie opposition, objection tamtejszy of that place tamze in the same place targownik peddler tego (tegoz) this, the same tej (tejze) this, the same ten (ta, tez) this, the same tesc father-in-law tezec tetanus tkacz weaver to it, this tom volume towarzystwo society trudniacy sie earning a living trzeci third trzy three trzydziesci thirty trzydziesty thirtieth trzymal held, kept [trzymal do chrztu] [stood as godparents] trzynascie thirteen trzynasty thirteenth trzysetny (trzechsetny) three hundredth trzysta three hundred tu here tudziez also, likewise tutaj here tutejszy of this place twierdza fortress tydzien week tygodnie weeks tylko only tysiac thousand tysieczny one thousandth tytul title, name

U

---

ubogi poor ukraijnski Ukrainian ul. (ulica) street, road umarl died umieja they know how umowa contract, agreement umrzec to die uprzejmie politely urodzenie birth urodzil sie was born urodzin of births urodzony born, wellborn (noble) urzad office urzad stanu cywilnego civil registration office urzednik registrar, officer, clerk ustny verbal, oral utrzymajacy sie supporting self (by) uwagi remarks

W

---

w in w. (wieku) century waleczny courageous, gallant was you wasz your wczesnie early wczoraj yesterday wczorajszy yesterday's wdowa widow [wdowa po Józefie] [widow of Józef] wdowiec widower we in wedlug according to wegierski Hungarian wiadomo it is known wiadomosc knowledge wiadomy known wieczorem in the evening wiek age, century wielki great, large wielmozny powerful noble, magnate wielu many, much wierzchni upper wies village wikarjusz (wikary) vicar, priest wiorst (wierst) a measurement of distance (1067 meters) wioska little village wlasciciel proprietor, owner wlóka 30 morgs (36 acres) wloscianin peasant wloski Italian wnuczek grandson wnuczka granddaughter wnuk grandchild woda water wodna puchlina dropsy, edema wojenny military województwo province wojskowy military wolny free, not a serf, unmarried wraz together with, with wrzesnia of September wschód east wsi of the village wsród in the midst of wstepnie initially, temporarily wszakze but wszystko all wtedy at that time wtorek Tuesday wuj (wujek) uncle (maternal) wyciag extract wydany published wykonal performed, did, accomplished wyrazenie statement wyrobnik dayworker, laborer wysoki high wyznania religion wyzszy upper wzgórze hill wzmianki remarks

X

---

xiadz priest xiega book

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Z

---

z with, from [z (Surname +ending)] [maiden name] za to zachód west zaden (zadna) none zadna none zagrodnik peasant, farmer who has his farmhouse zamek palace, castle zamezna wife, a married woman, married zamieszkaly residing at zamieszkanie residence zapalenie pluc pneumonia zapowiedz marriage proclamations, banns zareczona engaged zareczyny engagement, betrothal zarwarli they agreed zarzad administration zaslubiac to marry zaslubiony married zasluzony in servitude, serf zastepca assistance zaszlo happened, occurred zatem then, therefore zatrudnienie occupation, profession zawarli they agreed, contracted zawarte agreed zawartosc content zawarty agreed, contracted zawód occupation, profession zawsze always zdrój spring, spa ze with, from [ze (surname+ending] [maiden name] ze that (know that he died) zebrak beggar zejsc death zenska female zeszly preceding zezwolenie (zgoda) permission zgon death zgromadzony gathered, collected ziec son-in-law zielony green ziemia earth zloty gold, unit of money zmarl died, deceased zniszczenie destruction znowu again zobacz see zolnierz soldier zona wife zostajacy residing, staying zostal was, accomplished, remained, left zostawil left behind zrobiony written (in a document) zrodzony born zwany called, known as zwrot application, remark zycie life, age zyczenie desire, wish zydowski Jewish zyjacy living

D

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)