1. (in particular, historical) The enlightened despot Catherine II of Russia, who reigned from 1762 to 1796 as empress and Autocratrix of all the Russias

2. (in particular, historical) The enlightened despot Catherine II of Russia, who reigned from 1762 to 1796 as empress and Autocratrix of all the Russias

3. (noun) (in particular, historical) The enlightened despot Catherine II of Russia, who reigned from 1762 to 1796 as empress and Autocratrix of all the Russias.

4. In 17 Christina VII of Denmark set all the best craftsmen of the kingdom to work to create this collection in order to give it as a present to Catherine II of Ru ia .

5. The Bashkirs are Sunni Muslims, and their capital Ufa has been the centre of religious life for European Russian Muslims since the late 18 th century, when by the decree of Catherine II the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia was opened there