English

Proper noun

Little Russia

1. (now historical) The territory of the former Russian Empire inhabited by Ukrainians, approximately corresponding to modern central and eastern Ukraine.
   • 1928, Constance Garnett, translating Nicolai Gogol, ‘Old-world Landowners’:

     I am very fond of the modest manner of life of those solitary owners of remote villages, who in Little Russia are commonly called ‘old-fashioned’ […].

2. (historical) The former Imperial Russian administrative subdivisions in north central Ukraine.

Usage notes

• The term reflects the former status of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the Russian Empire, and went out of general use after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is an anachronism, if not used in a historical context, and can be offensive to Ukrainians.

Related terms

• Ruthenia

Translations

References

• Magocsi, Paul Robert (1986). Ukraine: A Historical Atlas. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3428-4.