# Smoke - kouř, dým, čmoud, čoud



## iobyo

Could someone please explain how the words _kouř_, _dým_ and _čoud_ are used in Czech? What are their etymologies?

I had always thought that Macedonian was the only Slavic language not to use _дим_ ("dim") for smoke, but now I see that Czech has _čoud _like the Macedonian _чад_ ("čad").


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## Jana337

Hello,

To me, _kouř _is the most neutral one. _Dým _is thick and smothering, e.g. the yellowish substance that eco-unfriendly factories emit. _Čoud _leaves soot stains (like candles).

I quickly checked in dictionaries that Slovak, Polish and Russian all have "dym".

I can't comment on etymologies.


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## iobyo

Jana337 said:


> Hello,
> 
> To me, _kouř _is the most neutral one. _Dým _is thick and smothering, e.g. the yellowish substance that eco-unfriendly factories emit. _Čoud _leaves soot stains (like candles).
> 
> I quickly checked in dictionaries that Slovak, Polish and Russian all have "dym".
> 
> I can't comment on etymologies.



Thank you for the explanation, Jana337.

Edit: And what about _čmoud_?


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## werrr

*Kouř* is the gaseous product of combustion. The verb “kouřit” means “to smoke” in modern Czech, but the Old-Czech meaning is “to fire, to burn, to heat, to stoke”. It is traceable to PIE “*kurǝ-” for “fire”.

*Dým* is a mixture of gas and solid particles. “Dýmat” means to emit gas or such a mixture (compare with cognate “nadýmat” for “to billow / to blow up”). That’s the word used for “smoke/fume” in Old Czech. “Dým” or “dymník” were also words for “chimney”.

*Čad* is obsolete for “smoke”. The noun is obsolete, but the verb “čadit” is still common. It goes back to the PIE “*k(ʷ)ed-” for smoke.

*Čoud* seems be a modern variant of “čad”.

*Čmoud* is a border variant of “čoud” typical for Moravian dialects (compare with Slovak “čmud”).

*Kadit* means “to smoke, to cense”. It is traditionally used only in conection with incense. (Obsolete derived meanings are “to smell/stink” and “to fart”. A modern derived meaning is “to defecate”.) It is of the same origin as “čad”.


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## ilocas2

There is an important difference in the usage. In the spoken language, people use kouř, čoud and čmoud. Dým is very rarely used in the spoken language.


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