Russians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of people primarily from the nation of Russia, sharing a common ethnicity and culture
2. The inhabitants of Russia, known for their diverse regional identities and historical backgrounds
3. Individuals or communities originating from Russia, characterized by their language, traditions, and heritage

Etymology: "Russians" is simply the plural of "Russian," so its story is the story of the root word. That root goes back to the Old East Slavic name "Rusĭ" (Русь), which referred to a people and region of the medieval Eastern Slavic world. Medieval Latin writers, around the 11th century, turned this into "Russiānus," combining "Russia," a Latinized form of that name, with the suffix "-ānus," meaning "of or pertaining to." The English word was attested from the 16th century, first as both a noun and an adjective. The modern "Russia" plus the suffix "-an" is a surface analysis of the same form, and "Rossiyan" (Россиянин) is a related term from Russian itself, so the two are a doublet of sorts, two forms of one name arriving by different routes.

Synonyms: Russians