taïga

taiga

noun tah-ee-GAH Rare

Origin: From Russian 'taiga', of Turkic origin.

Usage Note

Taïga refers to the vast boreal forest belt stretching across Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia. It is the world's largest land biome, characterised by conifers such as spruce and pine. The word entered French via Russian and is spelled with a diaeresis on the 'i' to signal that both vowels are pronounced separately.

Examples

"La taïga couvre une grande partie de la Sibérie."

Natural Translation

The taiga covers a large part of Siberia.

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