Etymology

Menshevik

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Today it means: A member of the gradualist or moderate wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party during the years preceding the Russian Revolution, when they split with the Bolsheviks; or a member of a later independent moderate-Marxist party formed in 1917. Full definition →

First used 20th c.Russian меньшеви́к
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The story

  1. Russian · derived fromме́ньше
  2. Russian · derived fromменьшеви́к
  3. English todayMenshevik

Borrowed from Russian меньшеви́к (menʹševík), derived from меньшинство́ (menʹšinstvó, “minority”), formed in turn from Russian ме́ньше (ménʹše), the comparative of ма́лый (mályj, “little”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. A member of the gradualist or moderate wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party during the years preceding the Russian Revolution, when they split with the Bolsheviks; or a member of a later independent moderate-Marxist party formed in 1917.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.