ukraine
ukraine Lexical Profile
• noun
A country situated in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west, and Romania and Moldova to the southwest, with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south. Its capital and largest city is Kyiv.
"Ukraine is known for its vast, fertile agricultural plains and serves as a major global exporter of grain and sunflower oil."
Word Nuance & Usage
Since its independence in 1991, the sovereign state is officially and correctly referred to simply as 'Ukraine'. Using the definite article ('the Ukraine') is now widely considered incorrect and historically insensitive, as it implies the area is merely a geographical region or province rather than an independent nation.
• Rhymes for ukraine
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Old East Slavic 'ukraina', widely translated as 'borderland' or 'march region', formed from 'u' (at, near) and 'krai' (edge, territory). It historically referred to the borderlands of the Kievan Rus' and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.