Etymograph

English

Menshevik

Menshevik comes from Russian меньшинство́ ‘minority’, from ма́лый ‘little’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal- ‘small’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mal-‘small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*malъ‘small, petite (of size)’reconstructed
  3. Old East Slavicmodernмалъ‘small’
  4. Russianmodernма́лыйmályj‘little’
  5. Russian, derivedmodernме́ньшеménʹšecomparative of ма́лый
  6. Russian, derivedmodernменьшинство́menʹšinstvó‘minority’
  7. Russian, derivedmodernменьшеви́кmenʹševík
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1967Menshevik

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mal-‘small’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*malъ‘small, petite (of size)’reconstructed
  3. Old East Slavicmodernмалъ‘small’
  4. Russianmodernма́лыйmályj‘little’
  5. Russian, derivedmodernме́ньшеménʹšecomparative of ма́лый
  6. Russian, derivedmodernменьшинство́menʹšinstvó‘minority’
  7. Russian, derivedmodernменьшеви́кmenʹševík
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1967Menshevik

Earliest quotation: 1967, [1905 March 23, Пора кончить: “В одном районе в последние 5—6 месяцев представителем был…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal- ‘small’

small, 2 more

Today it means

noun 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal- / Menshevik

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