While investigating the use of the word “taiga” I noticed a few claims about the word which are not currently in etymonline’s entry. The first is that the Encyclopedia Britannica claims that the word in Russian literally means “land of the little sticks” - source is here. The second is that, in contrast to that, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland claimed, in 1892, that the Russian meaning is “the world” - source is here. Lastly, wikipedia, in justifying a claim that the word is used slightly differently in Russia compared to Canada and the United States, links to a source dedicated to the meaning of the word, which I can’t read because it’s behind a paywall. source is here.