ксива (ksiva)
KSEE-vanounColloquialCriminal argot
A Russian slang term. Browse all Russian slang.
What it means
Papers; an ID card, especially an official one that gets you past someone. Said with a slight edge — a ксива is documentation used as leverage rather than mere identification.
Common in police, military and security contexts, and instantly recognisable to everyone else from three decades of crime drama.
Examples with translations
Он ксиву достал, и нас сразу пропустили.
He flashed his ID and they waved us straight through.
Без ксивы тебя туда не пустят.
They won't let you in there without papers.
Where it comes from
From Hebrew כתיבה ktiva 'writing', by way of Yiddish into the Odessa underworld argot that fed фе́ня. A large share of the oldest Russian criminal slang has this route.
Other forms
- Romanised as:
- ksiva