communism - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

com·mu·nism

Audio Help [kom-yuh-niz-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

2.	(often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

3.	(initial capital letter) the principles and practices of the Communist party.

4.	communalism.

[Origin: 1835–45; < F communisme. See common, -ism

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
communism

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

com·mu·nism Audio Help (kŏm'yə-nĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
Communism
1. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
2. The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.

[French communisme, from commun, common, from Old French, from Latin commūnis; see commune².]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
communism

1843, from Fr. communisme (c.1840) from commun (O.Fr. comun; see common) + -isme. Originally a theory of society; as name of a political system, 1850, a translation of Ger. Kommunismus, in Marx and Engels' "Manifesto of the German Communist Party." The first use of communist (n.) is by Goodwyn Barmby, who founded the London Communist Propaganda Society in 1841. Shortened form Commie attested from 1940.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

communism
noun
1.	a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
2.	a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
communism [ˈkomjunizəm] noun

(often with capital) a system of government under which there is no private industry and (in some forms) no private property, most things being state-owned

Arabic:	الشُّيوعِيَّه
Chinese (Simplified):	共产主义
Chinese (Traditional):	共產主義
Czech:	komunismus
Danish:	kommunisme
Dutch:	communisme
Estonian:	kommunism
Finnish:	kommunismi
French:	communisme
German:	der Kommunismus
Greek:	κομουνισμός
Hungarian:	kommunizmus
Icelandic:	kommúnismi
Indonesian:	komunisme
Italian:	comunismo

Japanese:	共産主義
Korean:	공산주의
Latvian:	komunisms
Lithuanian:	komunizmas
Norwegian:	kommunisme
Polish:	komunizm
Portuguese (Brazil):	comunismo
Portuguese (Portugal):	comunismo
Romanian:	comunism
Russian:	коммунизм
Slovak:	komunizmus
Slovenian:	komunizem
Spanish:	comunismo
Swedish:	kommunism
Turkish:	komünizm

See also: communist

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
communism

An economic and social system envisioned by the nineteenth-century German scholar Karl Marx. In theory, under communism, all means of production are owned in common, rather than by individuals (see Marxism and Marxism-Leninism). In practice, a single authoritarian party controls both the political and economic systems. In the twentieth century, communism was associated with the economic and political systems of China and the Soviet Union and of the satellites of the Soviet Union. (Compare capitalism and socialism.)

[Chapter:] World Politics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Communism

Com"mu*nism\, n. [F. communisme, fr. commun common.] A scheme of equalizing the social conditions of life; specifically, a scheme which contemplates the abolition of inequalities in the possession of property, as by distributing all wealth equally to all, or by holding all wealth in common for the equal use and advantage of all.

Note: At different times, and in different countries, various schemes pertaining to socialism in government and the conditions of domestic life, as well as in the distribution of wealth, have been called communism.

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