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Glite Dictionary
🏰 Fictional or romantic 👑 An imaginary person
Ruritanian

Ruritanian

9.9
A person from a small made-up Eastern European kingdom, often a noble or ruler
  • noun
  • /ˌrʊrəˈteɪniən/
  • Literature
translation icon : Ruritaniano
  • In the novel, the hero falls in love with a Ruritanian princess during a grand adventure.

Examples

  • Imagine, therefore, the revolution required to transform the Ruritanian system into something close to the American model.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The Ruritanian Embassy, Belgrave Square.

    The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

  • Higher education will continue to be based on research, but the Ruritanian government will increasingly direct research funds to one or two research-intensive universities, which will incorporate the old academy of sciences.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The story introduced a charming Ruritanian character who navigates court politics with wit.

  • The play features several Ruritanians who attend a royal ball filled with intrigue.

Surface Forms

Ruritanian singular
Ruritanians plural

Morphology

Ruritanian = Ruritania (transparent) = Ruritania + ian

Regular, productive demonym formation from the place name using the suffix '-ian'; the relation is clear even though the place is fictional.

Etymology

Ruritanian comes from Ruritania, the made-up Eastern European country in Anthony Hope's novel 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. So a Ruritanian is an imaginary person from that kind of story, which is why the word means an inhabitant of a fictional country.