Etymology

Prussia

P3R1U1S1S1I1A1

Today it means: A geographical area on the Baltic coast of Northeast Europe. Full definition →

New Latin Prūssia ← Baltic
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The story

  1. Baltic · derived from
  2. New Latin · borrowed fromPrūssia
  3. English todayPrussia

From New Latin Prūssia, a Latinization used by Peter of Dusburg of a Baltic (Old Prussian, or perhaps Lithuanian or Latvian) autonym. In the Baltic languages it has a long /uː/. The Proto-Indo-European source of the name is unclear; more at Prussia. Compare the Proto-Balto-Slavic *prus-sk-, whose cognates include Proto-Slavic *prъskati (“to splutter, to splash”), Sanskrit प्रुष्णोति (pruṣṇóti, “to sprinkle”), and thus signifying "watery land". The Middle English designation for the region, Pruce, derives from the same Latinization and is the source of the terms pruce and spruce.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.