Russian

American  

[ruhsh-uhn] / ˈrʌʃ ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Russia, its people, or their language.

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noun

• Russians
  plural

1. a native or inhabitant of Russia.

2. a member of a Slavic people, the dominant ethnic group in the Russian Federation, whose historical homeland lies along the upper Volga and Oka rivers and adjacent areas.

3. the Slavic language of this people, written in the Cyrillic alphabet: the official language of Russia or the Russian Federation. Russ, Russ.

4. Informal. Russian dressing.

Russian British  

/ ˈrʌʃən /

noun

1. the official language of Russia: an Indo-European language belonging to the East Slavonic branch

2. the official language of the former Soviet Union

3. a native or inhabitant of Russia

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Russia, its people, or their language

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-Russian
  adjective
• half-Russian
  adjective
• non-Russian
  adjective
• pro-Russian
  adjective
• pseudo-Russian
  adjective
• semi-Russian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Russians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Russian

First recorded in 1530–40; from Medieval Latin Russiānus, derivative of Russia, Latinization of Old East Slavic Rusĭ; see origin at Russ, Russia, -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Russian Russians

All this Russian grade schooler knew was that he liked it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

That could be trying to persuade Russia to end its military cooperation with Iran, for example, or maybe about more prisoner swaps or the prospect of a mass mobilisation of Russian troops.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Under this proposal, assets buried inside a 20-layer Russian nesting doll of shell companies would face a 20% tax penalty when distributed, or 1% for every layer.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

It could have even been to scold Russian President Vladimir Putin.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

The Imperial Russian Ballet, laid out before her like a picnic!

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

The CIA chief also pressed the Russians not to maintain economic or security ties with Iran, as the administration ratchets up its sanctions campaign against Tehran.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Asked to confirm the reports about Ratcliffe delivering a warning to the Russians, Trump replied: "I don't want to comment on that, but they're not going to attack."

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Terekh noted down what times each day the Russians exchanged fire with Ukrainian troops, trying to find the best time to escape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Kyiv said at the time it was targeting logistics hubs used by Russians to buy military equipment, and disrupting supplies to the Russian army.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The two men had recently been to the Soviet Union, where the talk was that the Russians were considering sending a woman into space.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson