soviet

[ soh-vee-et, -it, soh-vee-et ]
See synonyms for soviet on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. (in the Soviet Union).

    • (before the revolution) any governmental council.

    • (after the revolution) a local council, originally elected only by manual workers, with certain powers of local administration.

    • (after the revolution) a higher council elected by a local council, being part of a hierarchy of soviets culminating in the Supreme Soviet.

  2. any similar council or assembly connected with a socialistic governmental system elsewhere.

  1. (initial capital letter)Often Soviets. a governing official or person living in the Soviet Union: The Soviets have denied our charge.

adjective
  1. of or relating to a soviet.

  2. (initial capital letter) of the Soviet Union: a Soviet statesman.

Origin of soviet

1
First recorded in 1915–20; from Russian sovét “council, counsel, advice,” Old Russian, Old Church Slavonic sŭvětŭ, equivalent to sŭ- “together, with” + větŭ “counsel”; loan translation of Greek symboúlion

Other words from soviet

  • so·vi·et·dom [soh-vee-et-duhm, -it-, soh-vee-et-], /ˈsoʊ viˌɛt dəm, -ɪt-, ˌsoʊ viˈɛt-/, noun
  • an·ti-So·vi·et, noun, adjective
  • pro-So·vi·et, adjective

Words Nearby soviet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use soviet in a sentence

  • But during the second year soviet parachutists began to drop, a few at first, then more and more.

    Second Variety | Philip Kindred Dick
  • Factories a long way under ground, behind the soviet lines, factories that had once made atomic projectiles, now almost forgotten.

    Second Variety | Philip Kindred Dick
  • The soviet Union had gained great initial success, usual with the side that got the war going.

    Second Variety | Philip Kindred Dick
  • You might have started for the soviet lines without knowing anything about the work of the other varieties.

    Second Variety | Philip Kindred Dick
  • The people, their costumes—definitely not Pan-soviet uniforms—and the room and its machines, told him nothing.

    Hunter Patrol | Henry Beam Piper and John J. McGuire

British Dictionary definitions for soviet (1 of 2)

soviet

/ (ˈsəʊvɪət, ˈsɒv-) /


noun
  1. (in the former Soviet Union) an elected government council at the local, regional, and national levels, which culminated in the Supreme Soviet

  2. (in prerevolutionary Russia) a local revolutionary council

adjective
  1. of or relating to a soviet

Origin of soviet

1
C20: from Russian sovyet council, from Old Russian sŭvĕtŭ

British Dictionary definitions for Soviet (2 of 2)

Soviet

/ (ˈsəʊvɪət, ˈsɒv-) /


adjective
  1. of, characteristic of, or relating to the former Soviet Union, its people, or its government

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012