Etymology

From the New Latin 'Prussia', the Latin form used by Peter of Dusburg for the name of the region in the now-extinct language of its Baltic inhabitants, 'Prūsa'.

Proper noun

1. A geographical area on the Baltic coast of northeastern Europe.
2. A former Baltic country, annihilated by the Teutonic Order and absorbed by Germany.
3. A German province that was the predecessor to, and a member of, the German Empire; erased at the end of the Second World War.

Usage notes

Linguistic evidence affirms that the name is pronounced with a long u : ˈpɹuːsiːə / ˈpɹuː.ʃə. (Such is the pronunciation of the equivalent terms in Prussian and German, and such was the only pronunciation in Middle English.) Anglicised pronunciation, with a short u (ˈpɹʌ.ʃə), is also common in modern English, however.