socialism - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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

so·cial·ism

Audio Help [soh-shuh-liz-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2.	procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3.	(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Compare utopian socialism.

[Origin: 1830–40; social + -ism

]

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
socialism

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

so·cial·ism Audio Help (sō'shə-lĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

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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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

socialism
noun
1.	a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
2.	an economic system based on state ownership of capital [ant: capitalism]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˈsocialism noun

the belief or theory that a country's wealth (its land, mines, industries, railways etc) should belong to the people as a whole, not to private owners

Arabic:	إشْتِراكِيَّه
Chinese (Simplified):	社会主义
Chinese (Traditional):	社會主義
Czech:	socialismus
Danish:	socialisme
Dutch:	socialisme
Estonian:	sotsialism
Finnish:	sosialismi
French:	socialisme
German:	der Sozialismus
Greek:	σοσιαλισμός
Hungarian:	szocializmus
Icelandic:	sósíalismi, jafnaðarstefna
Indonesian:	sosialisme
Italian:	socialismo

Japanese:	社会主義
Korean:	사회주의
Latvian:	sociālisms
Lithuanian:	socializmas
Norwegian:	sosialisme
Polish:	socjalizm
Portuguese (Brazil):	socialismo
Portuguese (Portugal):	socialismo
Romanian:	socialism
Russian:	социализм
Slovak:	socializmus
Slovenian:	socializem
Spanish:	socialismo
Swedish:	socialism
Turkish:	sosyalizm

See also: socialist, socialize, socialise, socially, social

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

An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather than by private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties of socialism. Some socialists tolerate capitalism, as long as the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy; others insist on an abolition of private enterprise. All communists are socialists, but not all socialists are communists.

[Chapter:] World Politics

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

Socialism

Socialism\, n.

Socialism of the chair [G. katheder socialismus], a term applied about 1872, at first in ridicule, to a group of German political economists who advocated state aid for the betterment of the working classes. Sock \Sock\, v. t. [Perh. shortened fr. sockdolager.] To hurl, drive, or strike violently; -- often with it as an object. [Prov. or Vulgar] --Kipling.

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

Socialism

So"cial*ism\, n. [Cf. F. socialisme.] A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme. See Communism, Fourierism, Saint-Simonianism, forms of socialism.

[Socialism] was first applied in England to Owen's theory of social reconstruction, and in France to those also of St. Simon and Fourier . . . The word, however, is used with a great variety of meaning, . . . even by economists and learned critics. The general tendency is to regard as socialistic any interference undertaken by society on behalf of the poor, . . . radical social reform which disturbs the present system of private property . . . The tendency of the present socialism is more and more to ally itself with the most advanced democracy. --Encyc. Brit.

We certainly want a true history of socialism, meaning by that a history of every systematic attempt to provide a new social existence for the mass of the workers. --F. Harrison.

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