sovietic

Forms

sovietic m or n (feminine singular sovietică, masculine plural sovietici, feminine/neuter plural sovietice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French soviétique.^[2][3][4][1] Scriban explains it as formed on soviet “council”, and Wiktionary notes that it can be analysed as the noun with the suffix -ic.^[5][1] The noun is borrowed from Russian совет (sovet, “council”).^[2][3] The Russian word is a doublet of Romanian sfat.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Șăineanu's Dicționar universal, which its bibliography dates by the first edition of 1896; the edition of 1929 defines the adjective as “belonging to a soviet”, with the example regim sovietic “Soviet regime”.^[3][6] CADE (1931) has it too.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first referred to the soviets, the councils that arose in the Russian revolutions of 1905–1907,^[3] and then to the Soviet Union and its people.^[6][2][5] As a noun it names a citizen of the Soviet Union; in the plural, sovieticii are the Soviets, the people or the army of the Union.^[7][3] Since the end of the Union, dictionaries define it as relating to the former USSR.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1929 – in Șăineanu's Dicționar universal, of the soviets.^[6]
• 1931 – in CADE.^[7]
• 1939 – Scriban, with the example guvern sovietic “Soviet government”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Soviet: belonging to or concerning the former USSR or its people; coming from there.^[2][3]
2. Of the soviets, the councils of state power; characteristic of them.^[2]

Noun

1. A citizen of the former Soviet Union, or a person from there; in the plural, the Soviet people.^[2][3]

Related words

• soviet
• sfat
• Russian совет (sovet)

Usage notes

It is pronounced with a hiatus, so-vi-e-tic.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1036
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 939
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sovietic
5. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1225
6. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 605
7. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sovietic