Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • The medieval Russian state, established c. 862 by Scandinavian traders and warriors led by Rurik, who founded a dynasty at Novgorod. In 882 his successor moved the capital to Kiev, the center of Kievan Russia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Any of the medieval East Slavic principalities ruled by this class, especially Kievan Rus.
  • noun A person from Rus.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Russian Rus', from Old Russian Rusĭ, group of Vikings, Rus; see Russian.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Russian Русь (Rus’), from Old East Slavic Русь (Rus’), and Byzantine Greek οί Ῥῶς (oi Rhōs). Compare Russ, and see further Etymology of Rus and derivatives.

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Examples

  • Rus is the man behind Poetry and Poets in Rags at the Interboard Poetry Community, which has posted its Winning Poems for February.

    Congratulations are in order ... Frank Wilson 2006

  • As such, he and his state could claim lineage with the Kievan state called Rus that had accepted Christianity in 988 and collapsed in the 13th century.

    Historical Battle Lines Alexander J. Motyl 2009

  • The original word Rusini is derived from Rus, the abstract word for Russian fatherland or dwelling-place of the Slavic people; and the English word "Russian" may therefore mean a derivative from the word Rus, as denominating the race, or it may mean a subject of the Russian Empire.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913

  • In the year 862 Slavonic legates went away beyond the sea to the Variag tribe called Rus, and said, 'Our land is great and fruitful, but there is no order in it; come and reign and rule over us. '

    Russia Donald Mackenzie Wallace 1880

  • Viking warrior class and their descendants called Rus, the first East Slavic state, Kievan

    WN.com - Articles related to How Big Oil Conned Obama 2010

  • Viking warrior class and their descendants called Rus, the first East Slavic state, Kievan

    WN.com - Articles related to How Big Oil Conned Obama 2010

  • An old Russian chronicler declares that in 862 A.D. the Slavs sent an embassy to the Swedes, whom they called "Rus," saying, "Our country is large and rich, but there is no order in it; come and rule over us."

    Early European History Hutton Webster

  • In a major falling-out though, the then-prime minister's people ordered that Pugachyova's song "Rus," or Old Russia, be cut out of a television broadcast of the concert because it could offend residents of Western Ukraine,

    The St. Petersburg Times 2010

  • The fire began in the 'Rus' restaurant in Vlasyevskaya tower, which dates back to the

    RIA Novosti 2010

  • The fire began in the 'Rus' restaurant in Vlasyevskaya tower, which dates back to the

    RIA Novosti 2010

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