Menshevik
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Russian меньшеви́к (menʹševík), derived from меньшинство́ (menʹšinstvó, “minority”), formed in turn from Russian ме́ньше (ménʹše), the comparative of ма́лый (mályj, “little”).[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Menshevik (plural Mensheviks or Mensheviki)
- (now chiefly historical) 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. [from 20th c.]
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, page 259:
- ‘Better an ultra-leftist than a Menshevik,’ said Rosa Kaletsky.
- 2015 October 28, Ted Cruz, quotee, “Transcript: Read the Full Text of the CNBC Republican Debate in Boulder”, in Time[1]:
- Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate. That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.
Translations edit
member of a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement
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