any of a class of well-to-do peasant farmers in Russia who opposed the Soviet collectivization of the land
Origin of kulak
Russ, literally , fist, hence, tightwad from uncertain or unknown; perhapskulak
ku·lakWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Kulak." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak.
APA Style
Kulak. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak
kulak
noun
A prosperous landed peasant in czarist Russia, characterized by the Communists during the October Revolution as an exploiter.
Origin of kulak
Russian fist, kulak (“tightfisted landowner”) from Old Russian kulakŭ fist probably akin to dialectal Czech kulák small stone ( both Czech and Old Russian then being from Proto-Slavic kulakŭ fist ) ( of unknown origin ) or possibly of Turkic origin ( akin to Turkish kol arm ) ( from Old Turkic kōl upper arm )THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Kulak." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak.
APA Style
Kulak. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak
Noun
(plural kulaks or kulaki)
- (historical) A prosperous peasant in the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union, who owned land and could hire workers.
Usage notes
During Soviet state collectivization of farming in the 1920s–30s the label kulak, implying “tight-fisted”, was applied pejoratively to attack land-owning peasants in general.
- kulakism
- kulakize, kulakise
- kulakisation, kulakization
- dekulakise, de-kulakise, dekulakize, de-kulakize
- dekulakisation, de-kulakisation, dekulakization, de-kulakization
- self-dekulakisation, self-dekulakization
- subkulak
Origin
See also: kulák1877. From Russian кула́к (kulák, “wealthy peasant; fist; tight-fisted person”), plural кулаки́ (kulakí). Compare also Russian раскула́чивание (raskuláčivanije, “dekulakization”), подкула́чник (podkuláčnik, “subkulak”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Kulak." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak.
APA Style
Kulak. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Kulak
