Word of the Day ·

C3O1M3M3U1N1I1S1T1

communist

com·mu·nist

UK/ˈkɒm.jʊ.nɪst/US/ˈkɑ.mjə.nɪst/US/ˈkɑ.mju.nɪst/Philippines/komˈmju.nɪst/

adjective

What it means

  1. Of, relating to, supporting, or advocating communism.

In a sentence

...all through the between-war years no Socialist programme that was both revolutionary and workable ever appeared; basically, no doubt, because no one genuinely wanted any major change to happen... The Communists wanted to go on and on, suffering a comfortable martyrdom, meeting with endless defeats and afterwards putting the blame on other people.

1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱom-moy-ni-s
  3. Proto-Italic*kommoinis
  4. Old Latincomoinis
  5. Latincommūnis
  6. Old Frenchcomun
  7. Frenchcommun
  8. Frenchcommuniste
  9. Englishcommunist

From French communiste, from commun (“common, communal”) + -iste (“-ist”). By surface analysis, commune + -ist.

Full entry for communist →

Subscribe with RSS.