Русь

Belarusian

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old East Slavic.

Proper noun

Русь

1. Rus
2. Kievan Rus
3. Ruthenia, "Old Russia"

Compounds

• Белая Русь (“White Ruthenia, White Russia, Belarus”)
• Чырвоная Русь (“Red Ruthenia”) (Eastern Galicia)
• Чорная Русь (“Black Ruthenia”)

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Old East Slavic

Etymology

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.

Alternative forms

• Рѹсь (Rusǐ) (the ѹ digraph is a variant of у influenced by the Greek ου digraph)

Proper noun

Русь (Rusĭ) m pl

1. (9th century) Name of a group of Varangians, the ruling class in the principalities of Rus.
   • Афетово же колѣно и то Варѧзи . Свеи . Оурманє . Готѣ . Русь . Аглѧнѣ . Галичанѣ . Волохове . Римлѧнѣ . Нѣмци . Корлѧзи . Венедици . Фрѧговѣ . и прочии присѣдѧть ѿ запада къ полуденью. и съсѣдѧтсѧ съ племенем̑ Хамовомъ.[1]
     • "The offspring of Japheth were the Varangians, Swedes, Norsemen, Goths, Rusĭ, Angles, Galicians, Vlachs, Romans, Germans, Korlyazi ["Carolingians", i.e. Franks], Venetians, Fryazi [Italians, Genovese] and others. In the west they are ajacent to the southern countries, and neighbours with the Hamites."
   • идоша за море к Варѧгом̑ . к Руси . сіце бо звахуть . ты Варѧ̑гы Русь . ӕко се друзии зовутсѧ Свеє . друзии же Оурмани . Аньглѧне . инѣи и Готе . тако и си ркоша . s.a. 6370 (862)
     • "And they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rusĭ. These particular Varangians were known as Rusĭ, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named."
2. (10th to 12th centuries) Inhabitants of Rus; East Slavic people.

Usage notes

Русь is the collective plural for the Varangian elite ruling Rus', the Old East Slavic state. A single individual is called a русинъ (rusinǔ) or роусинъ, whence modern Russian русин (rusin, “Ruthenian”). While the Rus-Byzantine treaty of AD 911 is unclear on whether "Rus" refers just to the ruling elite or to the entire population, the treaty of 944 is explicit on the point that the "Rus" are "all people of the Rus land" (рѹсьскаꙗ землꙗ (ruskaja zemlja)).

Derived terms

• Adjective “of or pertaining to the Rus”
  • Short form:
    • рѹсьскъ (rusĭskŭ) m, sg;
    • рѹсьска (rusĭskа) f, sg;
    • рѹсьско (rusĭskо) n, sg;
    • рѹсьскы (rusĭsky) pl.
  • Full form:
    • рѹсьскыи (rusĭskyj) m, sg
      
    • рѹсьскаꙗ (rusĭskaja) f, sg
      
    • рѹсьскоѥ (rusĭskoje) n, sg
      
    • рѹсьскыи (rusĭskyji) pl
      
• рѹсьскаꙗ землꙗ (rusĭskajа zemlja, “land of the Rus”) f, sg
• рѹсьскыи человѣкъ (rusĭskyj čelověkŭ, “a Russian man; also a follower of the Russian Orthodox Church”) m, sg
• рѹсьскыи люди (rusĭskyji ljudi, “the Russian nation”) pl

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Russian

Wikipedia ^ru

Etymology

From Old East Slavic.

Proper noun

Русь • (Rus’) f

1. Rus
2. (poetic) Russia
3. Kievan Rus
4. An umbrella term for the territory of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, inhabited by the East Slavic Christian Orthodox people. Used until the 20th century.
5. name of a St. Petersburg daily newspaper published from 1903 to 1908
6. name of a special forces unit (ОСНАЗ) of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (formed 1994)

Declension

declension of Русь

	singular (uncountable)
nominative	Русь
genitive	Руси́
dative	Руси́
accusative	Русь
instrumental	Ру́сью
prepositional	о Руси́

Derived terms

• русский (russkiy)
• Великая Русь (“Great Russia, Muscovy”)
• Малая Русь (“Little Russia”)
• Белая Русь (“White Ruthenia, White Russia, Belarus”)
• Чёрная Русь (“Black Ruthenia”)
• Карпатская Русь (“Carpathian Ukraine”)

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Ukrainian

Etymology

From Old East Slavic.

Proper noun

Русь (Rus’) f

1. Rus
2. Kievan Rus
3. Ruthenia

Compounds

• Україна-Русь, Русь-Україна
• Руська земля (Rús’ka zemljá) (“Ruthenia”)
• Мала Русь (Malá Rus’) (“Little Russia”)
• Червона Русь (Červóna Rus’) (“Red Ruthenia”) (Eastern Galicia)
• Чорна Русь (Čórna Rus’) (“Black Ruthenia”)
• Підкарпатська Русь (Pidkarpáts’ka Rus’) (“Subcarpathian Ruthenia”)