Etymology

Ivan the Terrible

Today it means: Ivan IV Vasilyevich, who was the Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533, and Tsar of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. Full definition →

Russian Ива́н Гро́зный
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The story

  1. Russian · calque ofИва́н Гро́зный
  2. English todayIvan the Terrible

A calque of Russian Ива́н Гро́зный (Iván Gróznyj), using the older “inspiring fear or terror; dangerous; powerful” (not “defective; evil”) sense of terrible.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.