communisme

Forms

communisme m (plural communismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French commun + -isme.^[2][1][3] The adjective goes back to Latin commūnis (“common”).^[4] Rey notes an isolated German Kommunismus of 1794, used of the French Revolution.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Restif de la Bretonne defined communisme in Monsieur Nicolas in 1797, beside monarchisme and anarchisme.^[5] The TLFi's first record is from Sainte-Beuve in 1840, for a socialism calling for the abolition of private property.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed almost unused until 1840, the year of the communist banquet at Belleville; it was then well established, notably in Étienne Cabet, who used it beside babouvisme, and in Pierre Leroux (1841).^[5] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1840 and communiste to 1834.^[4] From then on communisme and communiste developed together: they were coloured first by Marxism and then by Leninism, defined against socialisme and socialiste, and shaped by the founding of a communist party; the Russian revolution of 1917 changed their use deeply.^[5] The opposite anticommunisme is first recorded in 1936, when communism became a major political current in France at the time of the Popular Front.^[5]

English took communism from the French word in 1843; as the name of the theory of Marx and Engels, it translated German Kommunismus in 1850.^[7]

Timeline

• 1797 – Restif de la Bretonne defines communisme in Monsieur Nicolas.^[5]
• 1840 – Sainte-Beuve uses it of a socialism calling for the abolition of private property.^[2][6]
• 1843 – English borrows the word as communism.^[7]
• 20th century – The senses of Marx's social system and of the doctrine of the communist parties are recorded.^[6]
• 1936 – Anticommunisme first appears.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A social and economic organisation based on the abolition of private property in favour of collective property.^[8][2]
2. (history) The holding of goods in common, as in early Christian communities.^[2]
3. The social system foreseen by Marx, in which the means of production belong to the community.^[8][6]
4. The policy and doctrine of the communist parties: le communisme russe de 1917.^[8][5]

Word family

• anticommunisme

Related words

• communiste
• commune
• commun
• socialisme
• collectivisme
• English communism

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert