Blins /

A blin, blintze, or blintz (plural: blini, blintzes, or blinchiki; Russian: блин blin, блины (pl.); cf. Belarusian: бліны, bliny; Lithuanian: blynai; Polish: bliny; Ukrainian: млинці, mlyntsi; Yiddish: בלינצע blintze, Kashubian language: plińce) is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with the main difference being that yeast may be used in blini, but not in crêpes. The English word blintz comes from the Yiddish בלינצע ("blintze), which in turn comes from blin. "Blin" comes from Old Slavic mlin, which means "a mill" (compare the Ukrainian word for blin млинець, mlynets’). Blini had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were 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).