Origin of oblastRussian oblast'
Origin of oblastRussian oblast' from Old Church Slavonic oblastĭ ob on ; see epi in Indo-European roots. vlastĭ power ; see wal- in Indo-European roots.
From a Slavic language, probably Russian Ð¾Ð±Ð»Ð°ÑÑ‚ÑŒ (Ã³blast', “region, province"), borrowed from Old Church Slavonic Ð¾Ð±Ð»Ð°ÑÑ‚ÑŒ (oblast'), from Proto-Slavic *obolstÑŒ, from earlier Proto-Slavic *obvolstÑŒ, *obvoldtÑŒ, a compound of *o(b)- (“over") + *volstÑŒ (“rule, power, authority"), thus originally probably meaning "a region ruled over". Compare Proto-Slavic *obvoldati (“to rule").