Prussia

Meaning

Proper Noun

• A geographical area on the Baltic coast of northeastern Europe.
• A Baltic country located in this area, conquered by the Teutonic Order and ultimately absorbed into Germany.
• A German province which was originally located in this area but later greatly expanded, and which was the predecessor to and a member of the German Empire; abolished as an administrative unit at the end of the Second World War.

Origin

• From New Latin Prūssia, a Latinization used by Peter of Dusburg of a (Old Prussian, or perhaps Lithuanian or Latvian) autonym. The Proto-Indo-European source of the name is unclear; more at Prussia. Compare the Proto-Balto-Slavic *prus-sk-, whose cognates include Proto-Slavic *prъskati ("to splutter, to splash"), Sanskrit प्रुष्णोति ("to sprinkle"), and thus signifying "watery land".
• The Middle English designation for the region, Pruce, derives from the same Latinization and is the source of the terms pruce and spruce.