Muscovy

[muhs-kuh-vee]

noun

Also called Grand Duchy of Muscovy. a principality founded c1271 and centered on the ancient city of Moscow. Its rulers gradually gained control over the neighboring Great Russian principalities and established the Russian Empire under the czars.

Archaic. Moscow.

Archaic. Russia.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for muscovy

Historical Examples of muscovy

I secretly wished that already he was in the heart of Muscovy.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846
Various
The Czar of Muscovy would fain have passed for a philosopher.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte
William Milligan Sloane
Now, your Majesty will remember that the ruler of Muscovy is termed the Czar.
The Panchronicon
Harold Steele Mackaye
Am I Czar of Muscovy, and hear discourses on reason and religion?
Imaginary Conversations and Poems
Walter Savage Landor
He concerted the operations of the campaign with the empress of Muscovy.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.
Tobias Smollett

British Dictionary definitions for muscovy

Muscovy

noun

a Russian principality (13th to 16th centuries), of which Moscow was the capital

an archaic name for Russia, Moscow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for muscovy

Muscovy

from French Moscovie, from Modern Latin Moscovia, old name of Russia, from Russian Moskova "(Principality of) Moscow." In Muscovy duck (1650s) and certain other uses it is a corruption of musk. Related: Muscovite.