Prussian
/ˈpɹʌ.ʃən/ adjective, proper noun, noun
Forms Prussians
- adjective Of, from, or pertaining to Prussia.
- proper noun The Prussian language; see Old Prussian (an extinct West Baltic language) and New Prussian (the modern reconstruction of the Old Prussian language, spoken by pilot communities in Lithuania, Poland, and elsewhere).
- noun A native or inhabitant of the geographical region of Prussia.
- noun (historical) A citizen of the German state of Prussia.
- noun A member of or a person descended from the Baltic ethnic group which inhabited Prussia.
- noun A member of or a person descended from the German ethnic group which settled in Prussia. “The Junkers were the stereotypical Prussians.”
Etymology
From Prussia, the country: cf. F. prussien.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of or pertaining to Prussia.
- adjective A native or inhabitant of Prussia. Prussian blue (Chem.), any one of several complex double cyanides of ferrous and ferric iron; specifically, a dark blue amorphous substance having a coppery luster, obtained by adding a solution of potassium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate of potash) to a ferric salt. It is used in dyeing, in ink, etc. Called also Williamson's blue, insoluble Prussian blue, Berlin blue, etc. -- Prussian carp (Zoöl.) See Gibel.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Prussian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details