Ruritania
[roo r-i-tey-nee-uh, roo r-i-tey-]
- a mythical, romantic kingdom conceived as the setting for a fairy tale, costume drama, comic operetta, or the like.
- Facetious. any small, little-known country or region considered remote, backward, or exotic.
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Origin of Ruritania
after the fictional Central European kingdom in the novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) by A. Hope
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ruritanian
Historical Examples
To return to our Ruritanian loan, which we left being underwritten.
International FinanceHartley Withers
"You have heard me speak of the Ruritanian Relief Fund," she said in a splendid off-hand tone.
Ruritanian
- of or relating to Ruritania
- involving adventure, romance, and intrigue
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- a native or inhabitant of Ruritania
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Ruritania
- an imaginary kingdom of central Europe: setting of several novels by English novelist Anthony Hope (1863–1933), esp The Prisoner of Zenda (1894)
- any setting of adventure, romance, and intrigue
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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 ruritanian
Ruritanian
adj.
"utopian," 1896, from Ruritania, name of an imaginary kingdom in "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1894) by Anthony Hope (1863-1933), who coined it from Latin rus (genitive ruris) "country" (see rural) + Latinate ending -itania (cf. Mauritania).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper