soviet
noun
(in the Soviet Union).
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soviet
American
[soh-vee-et, -it, soh-vee-et]
/ ˈsoʊ viˌɛt, -ɪt, ˌsoʊ viˈɛt /
noun
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(in the Soviet Union).
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(before the revolution) any governmental council.
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(after the revolution) a local council, originally elected only by manual workers, with certain powers of local administration.
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(after the revolution) a higher council elected by a local council, being part of a hierarchy of soviets culminating in the Supreme Soviet.
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any similar council or assembly connected with a socialistic governmental system elsewhere.
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(initial capital letter) Often Soviets. a governing official or person living in the Soviet Union.
The Soviets have denied our charge.
adjective
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of or relating to a soviet.
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(initial capital letter) of the Soviet Union.
a Soviet statesman.
soviet
1
British
/ ˈsɒv-, ˈsəʊvɪət /
noun
-
(in the former Soviet Union) an elected government council at the local, regional, and national levels, which culminated in the Supreme Soviet
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(in prerevolutionary Russia) a local revolutionary council
adjective
Soviet
2
British
/ ˈsəʊvɪət, ˈsɒv- /
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of soviet
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
Explanation
In the former U.S.S.R., a soviet was an elected legislative body, similar to a parliament. Soviet is from the Russian sovet, "governing council," and its Greek source, symboulion, "council of advisors." After the Russian Revolution, the term soviet was used for local governments elected by workers, as well as the higher councils that those local soviets elected in turn. Each separate republic making up the Soviet Union had its own governing soviet, and together they formed the Supreme Soviet, the highest legislative body in the country.
Vocabulary lists containing soviet
Chapter 24: Imperialism and World War I
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Chapters 29–30
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“China respects the sovereign status of the former soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 24, 2023
Bavaria proclaimed itself a socialist republic; a soviet took over in Cologne.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 29, 2018
He also appeared for the Great Train robber Charles Wilson and for the soviet spy George Blake.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2017
Related: On my radar: Jonathan Meades’s cultural highlights According to a probably mendacious soviet of pollsters, statisticians and PRs, the UK has more subscribers to social media than any other European country.
From The Guardian • Apr. 19, 2016
He is one of the minor leaders among the west side soviet radicals.
From A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago by Hecht, Ben
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
