ultraleft

The story

1. French · semantic loan fromultra-gauche
2. Russian · calque ofультралевый“ultraleft”
3. English todayultraleft

Ultimately a calque of Russian ультралевый (ulʹtralevyj, “ultraleft”, adjective), in the sense of "pertaining to extreme or uncompromising leftist ideology." From ультра- (ulʹtra-, “ultra; extremely”) + левый (levyj, “left”, adjective), equivalent to ultra- + left. Originally applied pejoratively by the Bolsheviks against libertarian socialists and early left communists, and later by Stalinists against Trotskyists; now also used neutrally to refer to certain ideologies associated with left communism or traditional Marxism. The modern meanings are partially semantically loaned from French ultra-gauche.