White Russia

English

Etymology

Calque of Russian Бе́лая Русь (Bélaja Rusʹ). Cognate with German Weißrussland, German Low German Wittrussland, Dutch Wit-Rusland, Afrikaans Wit-Rusland, Danish Hviderusland, Faroese Hvítarussland, Swedish Vitryssland, Norwegian Bokmål Hviterussland, Norwegian Nynorsk Kviterussland, Icelandic Hvíta-Rússland, Limburgish Wit-Rusland, Alemannic German Wiissrussland, among others.

Proper noun

White Russia

1. (historical) A historical East Slavic region.

   Synonyms: White Ruthenia, White Rus, Russia Alba

2. (archaic) An archaic literal translation for Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe.

   Synonyms: Belarus, Belorussia, (obsolete) Byelorussia

3. (historical) The areas controlled by the White Army, as opposed to Soviet ("Red") Russia, one of the sides in the Russian Civil War.

Usage notes

• The Russian anti-communist side of the Russian Civil War, known as White Russia, has no etymological or geographical relation to Belarus.
• Referring to Belarus as White Russia in the modern context may often hint sympathy to Russian imperialism and can be offensive to Belarusians, in the same manner as Little Russia can be offensive to Ukrainians.

Derived terms

• White Russian