A blini (sometimes spelled bliny) ( pl., diminutive: блинчики, blinchiki, dialectal, diminutive: млинчики, mlynchiki, , mlyntsi) or, sometimes, blin (more accurate as a single form of the noun), is a Russian, Ukrainian and more broadly Eastern European pancake traditionally made from buckwheat flour or nowadays wheat and served with smetana, tvorog, butter, caviar and other garnishes. Blini are among the most popular and most-eaten dishes in Russia. In the West, blini traditionally refers to small (2-4 inches in diameter) savory pancakes made with leavened batter. In modern Russian, the term most often refers to pan-sized leavened thin pancakes, although smaller leavened pancakes are also called blini and were much more common historically. Some English dictionaries record usage of the forms blin as singular and blini or bliny as plural, which corresponds to the original Russian forms, but other dictionaries consider this usage so rare in English that they do not mention blin at all and only record the widespread modern regular usage of blini for the singular and blinis for the plural. Some cookbooks and restaurants use blin and blintchick as in Russian to refer to crêpes. Blintzes are an offshoot (an evolved or variant form) of blini. They are thin pancakes usually made of wheat flour (not buckwheat), folded to form a casing (as for cheese or fruit), and then sautéed or baked. Etymology The Old Slavic term for the Russian pancakes was probably mlinŭ, which transformed in Old Russian into (), (cf. ’ (), Ukrainian for blin). While the Russian word (plural of ) refers in modern Russian also to the introduced foreign pancakes in general; meanwhile the term (Russian pancakes) is often emphasized in Russia for differentiation. Usage in modern Russian Aside from referring to pancakes, the word () is used as a linguistic signal in communications. It is used when a person talks to others and is searching for the right words or to express their dissatisfaction as a euphemism for "damn." History Blini were considered by early East Slavic people in pre-Christian times to be a symbol of the sun due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Butter Week, or Maslenitsa, also called "pancake week"). The tradition of a dairy festival at that time of year was adopted by the Orthodox church as a way of using up dairy products