White Russian

English

Etymology

(cocktail): The word white refers to the milk, while Russian refers to the vodka.

Adjective

White Russian (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to Russians with tsarist or anti-Soviet sympathies in the period directly following the 1917 Revolution.
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 340:

     The overseer of the clinic was a White Russian woman, a nun, formerly of the Russian Orthodox community in Jerusalem, but a good-hearted woman. In these cases, we should not be too scrupulous politically, said the priest.

2. (obsolete) Of or relating to Belarus, literally "White Russia," or its language.

Synonyms

• Belarusan (academic)
• Belarusian (preferred)
• Belorussian (deprecated)
• Bielorussian (official before 1991)
• Byelorussian (deprecated)

Coordinate terms

(Belarusian):

• Great Russian
• Little Russian

Translations

of or relating to Russians with tsarist sympathies in the period directly following the 1917 Revolution

• French: russe blanc (fr)

of or relating to Belarus

• French: blanc-russien (fr)

Noun

White Russian (countable and uncountable, plural White Russians)

1. A cocktail consisting of coffee liqueur, vodka, and milk.

   Synonym: (humorous) Caucasian

   Coordinate term: Black Russian

   Alternative forms: white Russian, white russian

   • 2015, Shane Carley, The Mason Jar Cocktail Companion, Cider Mill Press, →ISBN, page 15:

     Few cocktails include milk and cream, so the White Russian is a welcome departure from the norm. Already a popular drink in its own right, the White Russian was made famous by Jeff Bridges’ character in “The Big Lebowski.”

2. (history) A White Guardist, a Russian who not supported the Socialists in the 1917 Revolution and the Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and afterward (e.g. as a White émigré).
   • [1935, Leon Dennen, White Guard Terrorists in the U.S.A.‎^[1], New York City: Friends of the Soviet Union, page 18:

     The White Guard colony in Harbin is armed and organized along military lines. At the head of this army of counter-revolution—the shock troops of Japanese imperialism—stands the notorious tsarist bandit, "Ataman" Semionov.]

3. (obsolete) A Belarusian person.

   Synonyms: (academic) Belarusan, (preferred) Belarusian, (deprecated) Belorussian, (official before 1991) Bielorussian, (deprecated) Byelorussian

4. (obsolete, uncountable) The Belarusian language.

Coordinate terms

(Belarusian):

• Great Russian
• Little Russian

(cocktail):

• Black Russian

Translations

cocktail

• Belarusian: Бе́лы ру́скі m (Bjély rúski)
• Finnish: valkovenäläinen (fi), valkea ryssä
• French: Russe Blanc
• German: Weißer Russe m, White Russian m
• Hebrew: רוסי לבן m
• Portuguese: russo branco
• Russian: Бе́лый ру́сский m (Bélyj rússkij)
• Spanish: ruso blanco

White Guardist (Russian Civil War 1917–1923)

• Belarusian: белы m (bjely), белагвардзеец m (bjelahvardzjejec)
• Russian: бе́лый (ru) m (bélyj), белогварде́ец (ru) m (belogvardéjec)

Belarusian person — see also Belarusian

• French: Blanc-Russien m, Blanche-Russienne f

Belarusian language — see Belarusian

Further reading

• White Russian (cocktail) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• White movement on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Belarusian language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia