Etymology
For more details on this topic, see Etymology of Rus and derivatives.The toponym translates as Little or Lesser Rus’ and is adapted from the Greek term, used in medieval times by patriarchs of Constantinople since the fourteenth century (it first appeared in church documents in 1335). The Byzantines called the northern and southern part of the lands of Rus’ as: Μεγάλη Ῥωσσία (Megálē Rhōssía) — Greater Rus’) and Μικρὰ Ῥωσσία (Mikrà Rhōssía - Lesser or Little Rus’), respectively. Initially Little or Lesser meant the smaller part, as after the division of the united Rus' metropolis (ecclesiastical province) into two parts in 1305, a new southwestern metropolis in the land of Halych-Volynia consisted of only 6 of the 19 former eparchies. Later it lost its ecclesiastical meaning and became a fully geographic name.
In the seventeenth century the term Malorossiya was introduced into Russian. In English the term is often translated Little Russia or Little Rus’, depending on the context.
Read more about this topic: Little Russia
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)