kolkhoz

[ kol-kawz; Russian kuhl-khaws ]

noun

1. (in the U.S.S.R.) a collective farm.

kolkhoz

/ kalˈxɔs; kɒlˈkɔːz; kɒlˈhɔːz /

noun

1. a Russian collective farm

Word History and Origins

Origin of kolkhoz¹

1920–25; < Russian kolkhóz, for kol ( lektívnoe ) collective + khoz ( yáĭstvo ) household, farm, economy

Word History and Origins

Origin of kolkhoz¹

C20: from Russian, short for kollektivnoe khozyaistvo collective farm

Example Sentences

Many had fallen into a slowly degrading limbo: The kolkhoz, or collective farm, that once stood in the heart of Senkivka was abandoned, graffiti on its walls warning that the building was liable to collapse.

From Los Angeles Times

Each artel would become a kolkhoz, or collective farm, where workers owned their means of production, and eventually a sovkhoz, the state farm, with centralized ownership and quotas.

From The New Yorker

“You have to collect your ration coupon at the kolkhoz office.”

From Literature

At 14, Olena began working at the nearby kolkhoz, a Soviet collective farm, raising beets and tobacco, a job that spanned more than 40 years — until the fall of the Soviet Union.

From New York Times

They talked about how, before the war, the Party bosses had showed up to incorporate everyone into a kolkhoz, and the people protested and protested but finally signed up, having nowhere else to turn.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• kibbutz