matryoshka
nounUK /ˌmætɹɪˈɒʃkə/ · US /ˌmɑtɹiˈoʊʃkə/
Etymology From Russian матрёшка (matrjóška), from personal name Матрёна (Matrjóna), formerly Матрона (Matrona), ultimately from Latin mātrōna (“matron”).
1
One of a set of wooden Russian dolls of different sizes, designed such that each fits inside the next.
- The past is not only a foreign country that we half knew existed; it is hiding another concealed country behind it, and behind that one, another, and another – like a set of Russian matryoshki, in which larger dolls conceal smaller.2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, page 35:
- Derived terms
- Matrioshka brain