From Old East Slavic *голосъ* (golosŭ), from Proto-Slavic *golsъ*, related to Old Church Slavonic *гласъ* (glasŭ, "voice, sound"). Cognates appear across all Slavic languages — Polish *głos*, Czech *hlas*, Serbian *глас* — all tracing to a Proto-Indo-European root *gal-* meaning "to call or cry out," also distantly linked to Latin *gallus* (rooster) and Greek *kalein* (to call).

In Russian, *голос* carries a second important meaning: **a vote** (e.g., *подать голос* — "to cast a vote"). This dual sense — voice and vote — mirrors the democratic ideal that one's political say is literally one's voice. The word also appears in the famous Russian phrase *глас вопиющего в пустыне* (a voice crying in the wilderness), borrowed from the Bible, used to describe someone whose words go unheard. Note: do not confuse *голос* with *звук* (sound in general) — *голос* is specifically a vocal, human (or animal) sound.