Russia

Meaning

Proper Noun

• A country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The country extends from the Gulf of Finland to the Pacific Ocean, and was part of the USSR from 1922 to 1991. Co-official name: Russian Federation, formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Capital and largest city: Moscow.
• The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (a very common name, although more formally Russia, the RSFSR, was one of several constituent republics of the USSR).
• The Russian Empire.
• Rus, the medieval East Slavic state.
• Any of several East Slavic states descended from the Rus, typically including Russia (Great Russia), Belarus (White Russia) and Ukraine (Little Russia or Kievan Russia).

Related

Similar words

• Rossiia, Rossija
• Russian Federation

Origin

• 1538, from Medieval Latin Russi ("Russians").
• Ultimately from Byzantine Greek Ρωσσία (whence also Russian Росси́я ("Russia")), from an earlier (10th century) ethnonym Ῥῶς (Arabic رُوس, Old East Slavic Русь ("Rus")), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą ("rudder"), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- ("to row"). See Finnish Ruotsi for more. Rossija.