Etymology of Rus and derivatives: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The word Rus (or more precisely Rus' ) was most probably adopted by Slavs from the ancient Scandinavian root Rodr- (see Roslagen) directly or through Finnish Ruotsi.

Originally Rus was a medieval state and country consisting mostly of Early East Slavs. However, this state had no a proper name; it was called by its inhabitants "Руськая Земля" ("ruskaya zemlya") which could be translated as "Rusian Land" or "Land of Rus". The difference between the two terms would be like the difference between, for example, "Germany" and "German Land" or "Land of Germans". In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography.

Later this country was divided into several parts, the most influential being Halich-Volyn Rus in the South, and Vladimir-Suzdal Rus and Novgorod Republic in the North. The southern part fell under Catholic Polish influence. The northern part fell under much weaker Mongol influence and went on to become a loose federation of principalities.

Byzantine hierarches established their own names for northern and southern part (in Greek): Μακρα Ρωσία (Makra Rosia, Great Russia) and Μικρα Ρωσία (Mikro Rosia, Little Russia) respectively.

For this reason, the southern part was often referred as Ruthenia.

There is a lot of confusion about the usage of the words Russia, Ruthenia, Great Russia, Little Russia and so on. The various derivatives of Rus' were mainly caused by political reasons.

Therefore, through the course of history, the Ruthenia form is more often used to refer southern parts of Rus or by south-western neighbours of Rus, while the Russia form is more often used to refer northern parts or the whole country or territory.

In modern English historiography, Kievan Rus is the most common name, followed by Kievan Rus' , Kievan Russia, Ancient Russian state, and, extemely rarely, Kievan Ruthenia.

Kievan Rus has two meanings:

• a small territory around Kiev, incorporating the cities of Chernigov/Chernihiv and Pereyaslav/Pereyaslavl (roughly within a 200 kilometer radius of Kiev), and
• a vast political state (of the territories mentioned above) ruled generally from Kiev.

The first meaning was specific, but the more general second meaning was more widely known as Kievan Rus.

The northern principalities were reunited (some scholars claim, conquered) by a Russian principality, Muscovy. The southern parts were united with (or were conquered by) neighbouring Poland and Lithuania.

After 1840, the nationalists of the Brotherhood of Sts. Cyril and Methodius at Kiev resolved to change the name Malaya Rus' (Little Russia) to Ukrayina, drawing upon a name that appears on maps of Kiev and its local area (Kievan Rus) beginning in the 1100s - however, many scholars consider that it was just the name of a border zone.

In early 20th century, the name "Ukraine" was accepted in Galicia/Halychyna and the name "Ruthenia" became narrowed to the area south of the Carpathian mountains in the Kingdom of Hungary. Carpathian Ruthenia incorporated the cities of Mukachiv/Mukachevo/Munkács, Uzhhorod/Ungvár and Presov/Pryashiv/Eperjes. This area was part of the Hungarian kingdom since 907 AD, and had been known as "Magna Rus'," but was also called "Karpato-Rus'" or "Zakarpattya".

There were several derivatives from Rus in Latin: Russia, Ruscia, Rusia, and Ruthenia. The latter was chosen by the Pope and therefore widely used in papal documents. In the Middle English, the Ruce form was used (f.e. in The Canterbury Tales).

The problems with Latin and English word-usage began in the 15th and 16th century. The rulers of Muscovy reunited (some scholars say "occupied") northern parts of former Kievan Rus. Later their title evolved into Ruler of All Rus. However, Lithuania and Poland, who controlled the southern part, rejected this title. Later, Rus' - in the Russian language - evolved to Rossiya under Greek influence (Russia is Ρωσία (Rosia) in Greek).

In the meantime, the south-western territories of the historical Rus were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (whose full name is "Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia"). The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, taken as a whole, was dominated by Rus, as it was populated mainly by Rus, its nobles were of Rus origins, and a variant of Old Ruthenian language close to Belarusian was the sole language of most surviving official documents of the state prior to 1697.

Toward the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Austria conquered and divided the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in a series of partitions.