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Menshevik

(men′s̸hə vik′)

a member of the minority faction (Mensheviki) of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, which opposed the more radical majority faction (Bolsheviki) from 1903 on

Origin: Russ (1903) < menshe, the smaller, less, minority < OSlav miniji, smaller < IE *mineu-, var. of base *mei-, to lessen > L minor

adjective

of, characteristic of, or like the Mensheviks

Related Forms:

Menshevism noun
Menshevist noun, adjective

See Menshevik in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. Men·she·viks or Men·she·vi·ki (-vēˈkē)

A member of the liberal faction of the Social Democratic Party that struggled against the Bolsheviks before and during the Russian Revolution.

Origin:

Origin: Russian men'shevik

Origin: , from men'she, less (from their relegation by Lenin to minority status); see mei-² in Indo-European roots

Related Forms:

Menˈshe·vism noun

Menˈshe·vist noun

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