From Russian 'tundra' (the vast treeless Arctic plain), borrowed from a Sami (Lapp) language — specifically Kildin Sami 'tūndâr' or Kola Sami 'tundâr' (upland, high treeless plateau), cognate with Finnish 'tunturi' (a fell, a rounded treeless hill rising above the treeline in Lapland). The Sami and Finnish wordsare related to the Proto-Uralic root for 'barren hill' or 'raised open ground'. Russian borrowed the word from northern Siberian and Lapland indigenouspeoples during the 16th–17th century
' (possibly Khanty), and 'lemming' (Norwegian, from Sami). The concept it names had no exact equivalent in European languages before the word was borrowed. Key roots: tund (Russian/Sami: "From Russian 'tundra,' borrowed from Kil").