Russian[]
Of or pertaining to Russia .
Of or pertaining to the Russian language.
(dated) Of or pertaining to Rus.
(obsolete) Of or pertaining to the Soviet Union .
Person of Russian origin
Etymology[]
MedievalLatin (11th century) Russiānus, the adjective of Russia, a Latinization of the Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ). Attested in English (both as a noun and as an adjective) from the 16th century.
Alternative forms[]
Рѹсь (Rusĭ), Рꙋсь (Rusĭ)
Etymology
Possibly from Finnish Ruotsi (“Sweden”) (compare Сумь (Sumĭ) < Suomi, Весь (Vesĭ) < Vepsä / *Vepsi), from Old Norse Róðrsland (“the land of rowing”), older name of Roslagen, where the Finns and Swedes first met.
The Old East Slavic (Old Russian) proper noun Русь is first recorded in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle. Older attestations of the same name in Greek, Latin and Arabic date to the 9th and 10th centuries.
Other Uses[]
- USS Russland
- Russia, planet
- Russia