TO THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WEST POLESIAN- BELARUSIAN RITUAL TERM “KUST”

The etymology of the ritual term “Kust” is still an unresolved problem. Attempts to associate it with the semantic field “genus” cannot be accepted as куст in the sense of ‘genus’ is a secondary metaphorical form on the semantic basis of the primary eastern Slavic куст ‘frutex’. Also, apparently, куст ‘frutex’ and the ritual term do not share a com-mon source, but rather a relationship of homonymy and secondary mutual influences. The article suggests a justification for the hypothesis of the genesis of the ritual term Куст (Кост/Кошт/Густ) from the Pro-to-Slavic dialecticism of the South Slavic origin *gozd ‘forest, silva’, which, together with the prototype of the rite “vojdenije Kústa” ‘walking of the Kyst’, was brought to the western region of eastern Slavia by the Proto-Dregovichi.