Great Russian

American  

noun

1. a member of the main stock of the Russian people, dwelling chiefly in the northern or central parts of the Russian Federation in Europe.

2. the Russian language, excluding Ukrainian and Byelorussian.

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Great Russian British  

noun

1. linguistics the technical name for Russian Compare Belarussian Ukrainian

2. a member of the chief East Slavonic people of Russia

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adjective

1. of or relating to this people or their language

Etymology

Origin of Great Russian

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Under Tsar Peter the Great, Russian armies temporarily captured the Ottoman-held territory of Azov in the Crimea along the Black Sea in 1696.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

“The virgin forest was the nursery of Great Russian culture,” he writes.

From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2017

In order to answer this question, it seems that immigrants in Queens and New Jersey, Catherine the Great, Russian oligarchs, Imperial relics and top auction houses had to all get involved.

From Salon • Jul. 5, 2016

Perhaps he was Georgy Malenkov, the suety, waxen-faced Great Russian who donned the dictator's mantle.

From Time Magazine Archive

As might naturally be expected, most Malo-Russian authors of eminence, have preferred using the Great Russian, notably Gogol, who however is very fond of introducing provincial expressions which require a glossary.

From Russia As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Singleton, Esther