Prussian

American  

[pruhsh-uhn] / ˈprʌʃ ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Prussia or its inhabitants.

2. characterized by, exemplifying, or resembling Prussianism.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Prussia.

2. (originally) one of a Lettic people formerly inhabiting territory along and near the coast at the southeastern corner of the Baltic Sea.

3. a Baltic language formerly spoken in Prussia; Old Prussian. Pruss

Prussian British  

/ ˈprʌʃən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Prussia or its people, esp of the Junkers and their formal military tradition

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noun

1. a German native or inhabitant of Prussia

2. a member of a Baltic people formerly inhabiting the coastal area of the SE Baltic

3. See Old Prussian

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• non-Prussian
  noun
• anti-Prussian
  adjective
• pro-Prussian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Prussian

First recorded in 1555–65; Prussi(a) + -an

Example Sentences

While conducting research in the Prussian state archives in Berlin in the 1990s, he chanced upon the details of a “small vortex of turbulence” in Königsberg.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

By 1908, Wilhelm’s attitude toward the U.S. was more benevolent, and he offered President Theodore Roosevelt an elite corps of Prussian soldiers to be posted in California, supposedly to fend off a Japanese invasion.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

As the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz famously put it, war is “merely a political act … a continuation of political intercourse” carried out “by other means.”

From Slate • May 21, 2024

But as Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz put it in the early 1800s: “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2024

Prussian Junkers had the reputation of being stiff and arrogant, but that seemed an unfair generalization.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys