RUTHENIAN


Meaning of RUTHENIAN in English

-nēən noun

( -s )

Usage: capitalized

Etymology: Ruthenia, a part of the Ukraine + English -an

1.

a. : one of a branch of the Little Russians formerly chiefly of Galicia in Austria and the eastern part of Czechoslovakia and recently annexed to the Ukrainian S.S.R. along with the Ruthenian-speaking parts of former southeastern Poland

b. : the Ukrainian language as used in Galicia

2. : a member of a former Eastern Orthodox body entering into communion with Rome at the end of the 16th century and becoming the Uniate Church of the Little Russians

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.