Menshevik

American  

[men-shuh-vik, myin-shi-vyeek] / ˈmɛn ʃə vɪk, myɪn ʃɪˈvyik /

Or menshevik

noun

Mensheviks, plural Mensheviki plural

1. a member of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party in opposition to the Bolsheviks: advocated gradual development of full socialism through parliamentary government and cooperation with bourgeois parties; absorbed into the Communist party formed in 1918.

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Menshevik British  

/ ˈmɛnʃɪvɪk /

noun

1. a member of the moderate wing of the Russian Social Democratic Party, advocating gradual reform to achieve socialism Compare Bolshevik

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Menshevism
  noun
• Menshevist
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• Mensheviks
  plural
• Mensheviki
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Menshevik

1905–10; < Russian menʾshevík, equivalent to ménʾsh ( iĭ ) lesser (comparative of málenʾkiĭ small; compare menʾshinstvó minority) + -evik, variant of -ovik noun suffix

Example Sentences

The government in Georgia was heavily Menshevik and resisted Bolshevik rule, but in 1921 the Red Army took control of this region as well.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Menshevik Kerensky was present in Petrograd when there began a curiously leaderless and random series of riots and disorders among the people and local soldiery.

From Time • Jan. 18, 2015

In the first edition of the Soviet Encyclopedia, Vishinsky had been identified as a former Menshevik.

From Time Magazine Archive

Since arriving at Rome he has let it be known that he is not a Bolshevik but a Menshevik.

From Time Magazine Archive

An old Menshevik, he was the originator and most urgent supporter of the decree annulling the foreign debts.

From The Crisis in Russia by Ransome, Arthur