Russian

[ruhsh-uhn]

adjective

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

noun

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

/ 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

adjective

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Russian¹

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

Example Sentences

The Coast of Utopia was a massive trilogy about the 19th Century Russian liberal thinker, Alexander Herzen: coolly received at the National Theatre in London, it was a huge success in New York.

Read more on BBC

A new Russian messaging platform that authorities hope will replace WhatsApp and Telegram is getting rave reviews from government officials, but on the streets of Moscow, reception has been mixed.

Read more on Barron's

He stood next to the president as he gave his now famous "we are still here" speech as the Russians descended on Kyiv at the start of their full-scale invasion in February 2022.

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A major Russian oil terminal near the southern port of Novorossiysk halted operations early Saturday after a naval drone attack damaged one of its three mooring points.

Read more on Barron's

American and Russian business leaders were quietly anticipating that Witkoff and Dmitriev would deliver, positioning their companies to profit from peace.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal