English

Proper noun

Russias pl

1. (chiefly historical) The East Slavic states descended from the Rus collectively, typically including Russia (Great Russia), Belarus (White Russia) and Ukraine (Little Russia or Kievan Russia); the Russian Empire.
   • 1889, The Round Table

     This spirit first found vent in the wild survey across the Russias, was nourished by a journey across the Caucasus mountains, and a horse-back ride through Daghestan in 1870, and found its deep satisfaction among the convict life […]

   • 2008, James Clavell, Tai-Pan, Dell (ISBN 9780307491572), page 372

     "I recall my father saying that Prince Zergeyev—it must be the same family—was privy to the inner court of the tsar and one of the most powerful men in the Russias. Curious to find one here of all places, what?"

   • 2010, Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube, Hachette UK (ISBN 9781848545236)

     He paid brief tribute to the prolific Ioins of Rurik and the princely progeny they scattered across the Russias, and the Grand Princes of Kiev and Novgorod, the Khans of Krim Tartary and the Kagans of the Mongol Hordes.