Little Russia

English

Wikipedia

Proper noun

Little Russia

1. (historical) The territory of the former Russian Empire inhabited by Ukrainians, approximately corresponding to modern central and eastern Ukraine.
2. (historical) The former Imperial Russian administrative subdivisions in north central Ukraine.

Usage notes

• The term reflects the former status of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the Russian Empire, and went out of general use after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is an anachronism if not used in a historical context, and may be mildly offensive to Ukrainians.

Related terms

• Ruthenia

Translations

a historical area

• Bulgarian: Малорусия (bg) (Malorúsija) f
• Finnish: Vähä-Venäjä (fi)
• French: Petite Russie (fr) f
• German: Kleinrussland (de) n
• Russian: Малая Русь (ru) (Málaja Rusʹ) f, Малая Россия (ru) (Málaja Rossíja) f, Малороссия (ru) (Maloróssija) f, Малоруссия (ru) (Malorússija) f (less common)

• Ukrainian: Мала Русь (uk) (Malá Rusʹ) f, Мала Росія (uk) (Malá Rosíja) f, Малоросія (uk) (Malorósija) f

References

• Magocsi, Paul Robert (1986). Ukraine: A Historical Atlas. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3428-4.