"one who advocates socialism," 1827, from French socialiste, or else a native formation based on it, in reference to the teachings of Comte de Saint-Simon, founder of French socialism. The word begins to be used in French in the modern sense c. 1835. Socialista, with a different sense, was applied 18c. to followers and pupils of Dutch jurist Grotius (1583-1645), from his use of socialistus. Socialist realism attested from 1934.
Prison is a Socialist's Paradise, where equality prevails, everything is supplied and competition is eliminated. [Elbert Hubbard, "The Note Book," 1927]
Compare socialism.
country in Southeast Asia, from Vietnamese Viet, the people's name + nam "south." Division into North and South lasted from 1954 to 1976. Vietnam War attested by 1963.
"state in which supreme or executive power rests in the people via representatives chosen by citizens entitled to vote," c. 1600, from French république (15c.), from Latin respublica (ablative republica) "the common weal, a commonwealth, state, republic," literally res publica "public interest, the state," from res "affair, matter, thing" (see re) + publica, fem. of publicus "public" (see public (adj.)).
Applied to particular states so constituted by 1630s. The notion of "community in which there is a certain equality of members" is behind such expressions as republic of letters "collective body of those engaged in literary pursuits," attested from 1702.
"small Central American state with an economy dependent on banana production," 1901, American English.
acronym for Army of the Republic of Vietnam, ground military force of South Vietnam, organized 1955.
1926, from Russian, initialism (acronym) for Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika "Soviet Socialist Republic."
