Rus'

Proper noun

Rus (countable and uncountable, plural Rus)

1. A people made up of Scandinavian warrior merchants who travelled Eastern European river-roads from the eighth century, and whose settlements around Novgorod, Kiev/Kyiv and the Volga and Dnieper/Dnipro gave rise to the Rus' principalities.
   • In 860 the Rus’ streamed southwards and laid siege to Constantinople itself.2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 504

   Synonyms:

   Varangians

2. Kievan Rus, the medieval East Slavic state established by these same warrior merchants in the 9th century, whose capital was in Kiev.

   Synonyms:

   Kievan Rus, Kievan Rus', Kyivan Rus, Kyivan Rus', Kiev, Kyiv

3. Any of the medieval East Slavic principalities ruled by this class, especially Kievan Rus.
4. (poetic) The nation of Russia, especially in a transcendent or romantic sense referring to the history and culture of the country.

See all 5 meanings of Rus