English
perestroika
Perestroika comes from Russian перестро́йка ‘restructuring’, from стро́йка ‘construction’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to strew, to spread out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-‘to strew, to spread out’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old East Slavicmodernстройи
- Russianmodernстро́йка‘construction’
- Russian, derivedmodernперестро́йкаperestrójka‘restructuring’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004perestroika
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strew-‘to strew, to spread out’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old East Slavicmodernстройи
- Russianmodernстро́йка‘construction’
- Russian, derivedmodernперестро́йкаperestrójka‘restructuring’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004perestroika
Earliest quotation: 2004, Chris Wallace: “Gorbachev would introduce glasnost (openness and freedom) and perestroika…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *strew- ‘to strew, to spread out’
construction, structure, instrument, destruction, destroy, strain, instructor, construct, straw, destructive, stray, obstruction, instruct, obstruct, construe, stripling, 12 more
Today it means
noun A program of political and economic reform carried out in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *strew- / perestroika