English

Proper noun

Soviet

1. (historical) Any of the governing workers' councils in the Soviet Union.

Translations

Noun

Soviet ‎(plural Soviets)

1. A citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Adjective

Soviet ‎(comparative more Soviet, superlative most Soviet)

1. (historical, not comparable) Pertaining to the Soviet Union or its constituent republics.
2. Supporting or representing the Soviet Union or Sovietism; Sovietist.
   • 1998, David D. Laitin, Identity in Formation: The Russian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad, page 9

     He remained more Soviet than his parents and often accused Gorbachev of having destroyed the Soviet Union on behalf of US intelligence.

   • 2001, Robert G. Moeller, War Stories: The Search for a Usable Past in the Federal Republic of Germany, page 113

     Only in the GDR were the returning POWs presumed guilty; there East Germans, attempting to be "more Soviet than the Soviets," [....]

   • 2005, Gennadiĭ Ėstraĭkh, In Harness: Yiddish Writers' Romance with Communism, page 61

     It would also be incorrect to creat a "scale of Sovietism", arguing, say, that Gildin was more Soviet than Litvakov, or that Litvakov was more Soviet than Dobrushin. Essentially, they were equally Soviet, even if they saw their Sovietism rather differently: [....]

Translations

English

Noun

soviet ‎(plural soviets)

1. (now historical) A form of governing council in the former Soviet Union.
   • 2005, James Meek, The People's Act of Love, Canongate 2006, p. 230:

     Kratochvil, Jedlicka, Safar, Kubes and Vasata, who always took an interest in politics, set up a soviet in the last wagon and uncoupled it from the rest of the train in the night.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 184:

     Workers' committees were forming embryo soviets, soldiers' and sailors' collectives had whole ships and regiments under their temporary command, landless workers in the countryside were taking over abandoned farms and properties.

2. (historical) The main form of communist government at all levels in the Soviet Union imposed in the Bolshevik October Revolution in Russia.

Related terms

• Soviet Republic
• Supreme Soviet

Translations

Adjective

soviet ‎(comparative more soviet, superlative most soviet)

1. Pertaining to or resembling a soviet (council).
2. Relating to the ideology, culture or politics of the Soviet Union.
   • 1935, Louis Fischer, Soviet Journey, page 129

     An engineer who is not very soviet in his convictions is the hero.

   • 1947, Washington Education Association, Washington Education Journal

     Why are separate divisions for teachers and administrators in a state organization any more "soviet" than the same divisions in a city educational [....]

   • 1991, "Whatchamacallit", in Boston Globe, Aug 27, 1991

     The Soviet government is not very soviet anymore or, for that matter, much of a government.

   • 2004, "M&S coach Rose makes his pitch", in Times Online, Nov 14, 2004

     "It felt very soviet, very intimidating", said Steven Sharp, one of Rose’s closest lieutenants.

   • 2005, Zedong Mao, Stuart Reynolds Schram, Nancy Jane Hodes, Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings 1912-1949, page 575

     [...] that has been enlarged most quickly and widely is the very soviet region newly created in northern Sichuan.

   • 2006, Kate Transchel, Under the Influence: Working-Class Drinking, Temperance, and Cultural ..., page 136

     One tactic was to become more "soviet" than vanguard workers by enthusiastically participating in the regime's productivity campaigns such as shock work,

   • 2006, SG Inge-Vechtomov, "From the Mutation Theory to the Theory of the Mutation Process", in NATO Security through Science Series B

     Lobashev was of completely proletarian origin. He was a very soviet person.

   • 2007, Comment on Fred Hiatt, "A Soviet Memorial -- and Mind-Set: How far Russia has regressed became shockingly evident last week when Vladimir Putin's Russia unleashed a barrage against neighboring Estonia.", Washington Post, May 7, 2007

     There are 3 kinds of Russian speakers in Estonia: a Those that have taken out Estonian Citizenship, b Those that took out Russian citizenship and are therefore loyal to Russia, c those that have not taken either citizenship and are still very soviet in mindstate.

Translations

References

1. ↑ Daniel Jones, Peter Roach, James Hartman: English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, 15th edition, 1997, ISBN 0521-45903-6

Catalan

Noun

soviet m, f ‎(plural soviets)

1. Soviet

Adjective

soviet m, f ‎(masculine and feminine plural soviets)

1. Soviet

Italian

Noun

soviet m ‎(invariable)

1. soviet (council)

Derived terms

• soviet supremo

Anagrams

• estivo