Added 6 October 2026
soviet
/ˈsəʊvi.ət/ noun
In Latin: sovieti Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about soviet at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A workers' council, an institution first formed during the 1905 Russian Revolution and then instituted as the main form of communist government at all levels in the Soviet Union; by extension, a similar organization in early Chinese communism and elsewhere.
adjective
- Pertaining to or resembling a soviet (council).
- Alternative letter-case form of Soviet (pertaining to the Soviet Union)
Origin
Borrowed from Russian сове́т (sovét, “council”), from Old Russian borrowed from Old Church Slavonic съвѣтъ (sŭvětŭ, “advice”). Compounded from съ- (sŭ-) + вѣтъ (větŭ, “agreement”), from Proto-Slavic *větъ (“council, talk”). Related words include наве́т (navét), изве́т (izvét), отве́т (otvét), приве́т (privét), обе́т (obét), ве́че (véče), отвеча́ть (otvečátʹ), отве́тить (otvétitʹ), завеща́ть (zaveščátʹ), and совещаться (soveščatʹsja). Probably cognate with Polish witać (“to welcome”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)