Soviet Union

English

Etymology

Clipping of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Attested since October 1919 in U.S. newspapers.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɒviət ˈjuːniən/, /ˈsəʊvɪət ˈjuːniən/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Audio (UK):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈsoʊviət ˈjuːnjən/

Proper noun

the Soviet Union

  1. (historical) A former transcontinental country in Europe and Asia (1922–1991), now split into Russia and 14 other countries. Official name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
    • 2005, Tony Judt, “The Impossible Settlement”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:
      Hence the famous February 9th 1946 speech at the Bolshoi Theatre, where Stalin announced that the Soviet Union was returning to its pre-war emphasis on industrialization, war-preparedness, and the inevitability of conflict between capitalism and Communism, and made explicit what was already obvious, that henceforth the Soviet Union would cooperate with the West only when it suited her.
  2. (informal, historical, synecdochically) The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Descendants

  • Bengali: সোভিয়েত ইউনিয়ন (śobhiet iuniôn)

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “Soviet Union”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.