gulag
- [alsoG-] the system of prisons and labor camps, esp. for political prisoners, in the Soviet Union: with the
- such a prison or forced-labor camp, as in the Soviet Union
- any place or situation regarded as like such a prison
Origin of gulag
Russian GULAG, acronym for Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel'no-trudovyx lagerej, Main Administration for Corrective Labor Camps: term popularized by A. Solzhenitsyn in his multivolume work, The Gulag Archipelagogulag
also Gu·lag
noun
- a. A network of forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.b. A labor camp in this network.
- a. A network of prisons used especially for political dissidents.b. A prison in such a network.
Origin of gulag
Russian Gulag from G(lavnoe) u(pravlenie ispravitel'no-trudovykh) lag(ereĭ) Chief Administration (of Correctional Labor) Campsgulag
Noun
(plural gulags)
Origin
From the Russian acronym ГУЛАГ (GULAG): Главное управление исправительно-трудовых лагерей (Glávnoje upravlénije ispravítel’no-trudovýx lageréj, “Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps, Main Directorate for Places of Detention, Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps, etc.”).
