dzud

English

WOTD – 26 November 2015

Alternative forms

• zud

Etymology

Borrowed from Mongolian зуд (zud)/ᠵᠤᠳ (ǰud).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(d)zuːd/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -uːd

Noun

dzud (plural dzuds)

1. An ecological crisis in the steppe-land of Mongolia and Central Asia causing loss of livestock, typically a summer drought followed by a severe winter.
   • 2010 April 7, Linda Pressly, “Mongolia on verge of mineral boom”, in BBC News‎^[1], archived from the original on 29 April 2015:

     But the country [Mongolia] is currently experiencing a "dzud" – when a summer drought followed by a severe winter decimates the grazing areas.

   • 2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 3:

     Because migration distances are increasingly limited, people are increasingly vulnerable to various kinds of harsh winter or zud […] that can devastate herd populations and herder livelihoods.

Translations

a summer drought followed by a severe winter, generally causing serious loss of livestock

• Breton: zoud
• Chinese: 冬季嚴寒／冬季严寒
• French: dzud
• German: Zud, Dsud
• Italian: zud
• Korean: 조드 (jodeu)
• Mongolian: зуд (mn) (zud)
• Russian: дзуд m (dzud)
• Turkish: zud