Many, as if native words of the Russian language, are conditionally understandable. This means that we intuitively understand the meaning of words, and it will be difficult to explain the meaning of the concept. Moreover, even a seemingly correct concept can be fundamentally wrong.
One of these words is "temnik". This is not a dark room at all, as many of our contemporaries think, it has nothing to do with basements and attics. It would be a mistake to attribute the meaning of the word to the places of imprisonment: although this concept is consonant with the word "dungeon". Let's see what it means.
Origin of the word
Any elementary school student, when parsing the word "temnik", will highlight the root - topic -. The first thing that comes to mind is that the root is a direct synonym for the words "darkness" or "darkness." In this case, the root has nothing to do with the words “dusk” or “gloom”. The origins of its origin lie in a completely different area.
A thousand years ago, the word "darkness" meant "ten thousand." It was a quantitative noun, synonymous with the word "very much." And now we sometimes say "darkness to the people", implying a huge crowd of people. Usually such crowds are not going to just like that: they definitely need a leader.
Most often in ancient times, people gathered to carry out military campaigns or to repel the advance of the enemy. And so the first meaning of “temnik” appeared - this is a commander, organizer and leader. Such people commanded a certain detachment called fogan. He numbered 10 thousand soldiers, and the temnik was directly subordinate only to the khan. The Eastern Slavs, constantly suffering from the raids of the Khan’s detachments, changed this word in their own way: this is how it appeared in the Old Russian language.
The fact that the leader of this army commanded the ten-thousand-strong army of fighters also played a role: this number in Russia was called, as we recall, "darkness."
Temnik in Russia primordial
Famous compilers of the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary agree with this opinion. In their opinion, the word "temnik" in ancient Russia called the leader of the Horde detachment. In the Horde, Temniks enjoyed great influence, were closely related to the khans, and played a significant role in Saray’s politics.
Later, the word temnik began to mean not only the Horde military leader, but also the leader of the Russian princely squads. From here from the original meaning went the numerous surnames Temnik and their derivatives. The name of Terenty Temnik, who held a significant post in Veliky Novgorod, is preserved in history. Perhaps a similar origin is the name of the Temnik River, which flows in Buryatia.
Modification of the meaning of the word
Over time, the meaning of the word has changed a bit. In the Late Middle Ages, temnik is a secret decree, an order that a ruler gave to his military leader or court. This implies the new meaning of this concept: the word "temnik" is a paper, a circular, and maybe even a denunciation. From secret orders of the ruler to the commander, the temnik gradually turned into a document that should be hidden from prying eyes. Such circulars are a common occurrence in the Russian Empire of the 18-19th centuries. Temnik has kept this value to this day.
Temnik in the modern edition
The further fate of this word in the present and recent past is interesting. Quite recently, one can again hear the word "temnik", but its origin is from a completely different root - "theme". This is the name of the materials that were sent by the government to all editors of the media with recommendations on the coverage of a particular news.
Such recommendations suggested telling about the event in the right way so as not to stain the reputation of the “right” people. The main emphasis was that even adverse news correctly illuminate the leadership of the political elite and create the impression that political opponents are to blame for all the country's misfortunes.
It is clear that such “temniks” had nothing to do with democracy and freedom of speech, but obstinate editors who preferred to disseminate an objective opinion soon lost their jobs.
Temnik students and graduate students
Now about what “temnik" means, students and high school students are well aware. This name on the Internet received special sites. There you can download or purchase ready-made collections of term papers and essays for little money. This value can also be found among scientists: in this environment the meaning of the word "temnik" is: a collection of related projects and intermediate results that contribute to solving the main research issue.
As you can see, the word denoting a military leader a thousand years ago has thoroughly changed its meaning. In literary works, temnik is still the lord of 10 thousand copies, a devoted slave of the khan. For journalists and writers, the temnik serves as a constant reminder that even opposition publications are secretly supervised by the government.
In modern speech and blogs, Temnik is a collection of articles and essays necessary for writing future scientific work.