Prussia
/ˈpɹʌ.ʃə/ proper noun
- proper noun (chiefly historical) A geographical area on the Baltic coast of Northeast Europe.
- proper noun (historical) A former duchy, kingdom and (after German unification in 1871) a federal state of Germany, existing in various forms from 1525 to 1947, when it was disbanded by the Allies; it expanded from the above region and included parts of what is now Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium and Czechia.
- proper noun (countable) A country known for exceptional military professionalism in her region. Historically used for Bulgaria as the "Prussia of the Balkans".
- proper noun A township in Adair County, Iowa, United States.
- proper noun Former name of Leader, Saskatchewan, changed due to anti-German sentiment in WWI.
Synonyms
Etymology
From New Latin Prūssia, a Latinization used by Peter of Dusburg of a Baltic (Old Prussian, or perhaps Lithuanian or Latvian) autonym. In the Baltic languages it has a long /uː/. The Proto-Indo-European source of the name is unclear; more at Prussia. Compare the Proto-Balto-Slavic *prus-sk-, whose cognates include Proto-Slavic *prъskati (“to splutter, to splash”), Sanskrit प्रुष्णोति (pruṣṇóti, “to sprinkle”), and thus signifying "watery land".
The Middle English designation for the region, Pruce, derives from the same Latinization and is the source of the terms pruce and spruce.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Prussia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details