soviet English · revision 4570

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1917|origins=ru совет}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsəʊ.vi.ət/, /ˈsɒv.i.ət/, US /ˈsoʊ.vi.et/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|ru|совет|tr=sovét|t=council]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[orv|съвѣтъ|tr=sŭvětŭ|t=council, assembly]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from sŭ “with, together” and větŭ “counsel, agreement”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The Slavic word is a loan translation of Greek symboúlion “council of advisers”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An elected council forming a unit of government in socialist Russia: 1917 in Barnhart, Etymonline, the OED and MWU.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word entered English with the Russian Revolution of 1917.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) By 1918 it was used of similar councils in other countries,^(OED 1989) and the adjective, of government by soviets, is from 1918.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) From 1920 ''the Soviets'' meant the government or people of the Soviet Union, and the adjective meant “of the Soviet Union”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 the word has been mostly historical.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1917 – an elected council in Russia.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1918 – adjective; councils in other countries.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1920 – the people or government of the Soviet Union.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1939 – Soviet-German and similar compounds.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' An elected [[council]] in the former [[Soviet Union]], at local, regional or national level.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(historical)'' A similar revolutionary council elsewhere.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(usually Soviets)'' The people or government of the former Soviet Union.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(usually Soviet)'' Of or relating to the former Soviet Union.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of or relating to a soviet.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sovietism]]

+ * [[anti-Soviet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Supreme Soviet]]

+ * [[Bolshevik]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}