From Old Church Slavonic *вопросъ* (voprosu), derived from the verb *вопросити* — "to ask, to question" — itself built from the prefix *во-* (in, into) + *просити* (to ask, to request). Cognate with Church Slavonic *просьба* (request). The word has been in continuous use in Russian since the earliest written records.

In Russian academic and formal culture, задать вопрос ("to pose a question") is the standard collocation — not *спросить вопрос*, which is considered incorrect (a classic learner error). Russians also use вопрос to mean a matter or issue, as in: *Это вопрос времени* ("It's a matter of time"), much like the English word "question" in "that's not in question."