False Friends in Slavic Languages

• is a complete false friend in Bosnian and Croatian.
• does not have all its Polish meanings in Belarusian, Bulgarian, Czech, Kashubian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian and Ukrainian.
• has additional meanings in Bulgarian, Russian, Slovenian and Serbian.

• The Polish meaning ‘world’ is shared by Belarusian свет, Bosnian svijet, Bulgarian свят, Croatian svijet, Czech svět, Kashubian swiat, Russian свет, Serbian свет, Slovak svet, Slovenian svet and Ukrainian світ.
• The Polish meaning ‘very far/long’ is unique.
• The meaning ‘light’ (not present in Polish ‘świat’, translated as ‘światło’) is attested in Bulgarian светлина and Russian свет.
• The meaning ‘council’ (not present in Polish ‘świat’, translated as ‘rada’) is attested in Bosnian svjet, Croatian svjet, Croatian savjet, Croatian svijet and Serbian свет.
• The meaning ‘holy’ (not present in Polish ‘świat’) is attested in Bulgarian свят, Serbian свет and Slovenian svet.

NB: No information yet for Macedonian, Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian.