zemstvo

Z10E1M3S1T1V4O1
UK/ˈzɛmstvəʊ/

noun

A Russian district or provincial council, or elective local-governmental administrative division, founded in 1864 by Tsar Alexander the Liberator.

OriginRussian зе́мство →
Scrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounzemstvo (plural zemstvos or zemstva)

plural zemstvos · plural zemstva · alternative zempstwo · alternative zemstwo

  1. historicalA Russian district or provincial council, or elective local-governmental administrative division, founded in 1864 by Tsar Alexander the Liberator.

    Two of Alexander III's counter-reforms, in 1890 and 1892, greatly increased the governors' powers over the zemstvos and municipal bodies.

    1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society, published 2013, page 52

Origin

  1. Russianзе́мство
  2. Englishzemstvo

From Russian зе́мство (zémstvo), from земля́ (zemljá, “land, country”).

More words from Russian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Estonian semstvo
  • semstvoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Finnish semstvo
  • semstvoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
French zemstvo
  • zemstvoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
German Semstwo
  • Semstwoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Japanese ゼムストヴォ
  • ゼムストヴォ (zemusutovo)a Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Korean 젬스트보
  • 젬스트보 (jemseuteubo)a Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Polish ziemstwo
  • ziemstwoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Russian зе́мство
  • зе́мство (zémstvo)a Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Swedish zemstvo, landsting
  • zemstvoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
  • landstinga Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Turkish zemisto
  • zemistoa Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Ukrainian зе́мство
  • зе́мство (zémstvo)a Russian districtual or provincial conciliary or elective local-governmental administrative division
Cite this entry
APA

zemstvo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zemstvo

MLA

“zemstvo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zemstvo. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zemstvo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zemstvo.

Source: zemstvo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.