Rus

Alternative forms

• Rus'
• Rūs (in the context of transliteration from Arabic)

Etymology

Earlier form Russ from German Russe etc., from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ). More recent use influenced by Russian Русь (Rusʹ), from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ). Use with macron was probably influenced by the transliteration of Arabic رُوس (rūs).

Compare Russ, Russian, Russie, Russniak, Rusyn, Ruthenian.

Also compare Swedish Ryss, Dutch Rus, German Russe, French Russe, Byzantine Greek Ῥῶς (Rhôs), Russian Русь (Rusʹ), Belarusian Русь (Rusʹ), Ukrainian Русь (Rusʹ). Also compare Russian ру́сский (rússkij, “Ethnic Russian, of Rus”), россия́нин (rossijánin, “Russian national”), Росси́я (Rossíja, “Russia”).

See further Etymology of Rus and derivatives.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹuːs/, /ɹʌs/
• Rhymes: -uːs, -ʌs

Proper noun

Rus (countable and uncountable, plural Rus)

1. A people made up of Scandinavian warrior merchants who travelled Eastern European river-roads from the eighth century, and whose settlements around Novgorod, Kiev and the Volga and Dnieper gave rise to the Rus' principalities. [from 19th c.]
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 504:

     In 860 the Rus’ streamed southwards and laid siege to Constantinople itself.

2. Kievan Rus', the medieval East Slavic state established by these same warrior merchants in the 9th century, whose capital was in Kiev.
3. Any of the medieval East Slavic principalities ruled by this class, especially Kievan Rus.
4. (poetic) The nation of Russia, especially in a transcendent or romantic sense referring to the history and culture of the country.

Noun

Rus (plural Rus)

1. A person from Rus.
   • 1959, Boris Dmitrievich Grekov, Kiev Rus, Foreign Languages Pub. House, p 244:

     And if a Rus hits a Greek, or a Greek a Rus with a sword, a spear or any other weapon, he shall pay five litres of silver for his offence, in accordance with Rus law; and if he be unable (insolvent—Author) his property shall be sold for the best price it fetches, including the very clothes . . .

   • 1959, Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich Solov’ev, History of Russia from the Earliest Times [2000], v 3 (The Shift Northward: Kievan Rus, 1154–1228), p 223:

     If a Varangian claimed money from a Rus, or a Rus from a Varangian, and the debtor refused to pay, the plaintiff, accompanied by twelve witnesses, . . .

   • 1973, Donald W. Treadgold, The West in Russia and China: Religious and Secular Thought in Modern Times, v 1 (Russia, 1472–1917), →ISBN, p xxxv:

     The Church of Kievan Rus knew men well-versed in Scripture and apparently other learning of the time, such as the Metropolitans Ioann II (d. 1089) and Klimetn Smoliatich (twelfth century). The former was Greek, and the latter a Rus.

References

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Rus”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “Rus”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• usr, SRU, urs, URs, Sur., sur-, RSU

Noun

Rus (plural Russe, diminutive Russie)

1. Russian (person from Russia or of Russian descent)

Etymology

From Old High German rōsa, from Latin rosa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʀuːs/

Noun

Rus f (plural Ruse, diminutive Rüsje or Riesche)

1. (most dialects) rose

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrus]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Czech Rus.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Czech Rus.

Further reading

• “Rus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “Rus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Proper noun

Rus m anim (female equivalent Rusová)

1. a male surname

Further reading

• “Rus”, in Příjmení.cz (in Czech)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʏs
• IPA^(key): /rʏs/

Noun

Rus m (plural Russen, diminutive Rusje n, feminine Russin)

1. Russian
2. (Bargoens) detective

Etymology

From rusy or Rus ("Ruthenian" or "Russian").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrus/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: Rus

Proper noun

Rus m pers

1. a male surname

Proper noun

Rus f (indeclinable)

1. a female surname

Further reading

• “Rus”, in Internetowy słownik nazwisk w Polsce [Internet dictionary of surnames in Poland], 2022

Etymology

From rus.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Rus m

1. A village in Dumbrăvița, Maramureș, Romania
2. A commune of Sălaj, Romania
3. A village in Rus, Sălaj, Romania

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rûs/

Proper noun

Rȕs m (Cyrillic spelling Ру̏с)

1. Russian (male person)

Further reading

• “Rus”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [rus]

Noun

Rus m pers (female equivalent Ruska)

1. Russian (person)

Proper noun

Rus m pers (female equivalent Rusová)

1. a male surname originating as an ethnonym

References

• “Rus”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Further reading

• Rusko
• ruský
• rusky
• ruština

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rúːs/

Noun

Rȗs m anim (female equivalent Rúsinja)

1. Russian (male person)

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

More information Masculine anim., hard o-stem, nom. sing. ...

Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	Rús
gen. sing.	Rúsa
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	Rús	Rúsa	Rúsi
genitive (rodȋlnik)	Rúsa	Rúsov	Rúsov
dative (dajȃlnik)	Rúsu	Rúsoma	Rúsom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	Rúsa	Rúsa	Rúse
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	Rúsu	Rúsih	Rúsih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	Rúsom	Rúsoma	Rúsi

Close

Further reading

• “Rus”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “Rus”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Noun

Rus

1. A Russian person (nationality)