Bolshevik

[bohl-shuh-vik, bol-; Russian buh l-shi-vyeek] /ˈboʊl ʃə vɪk, ˈbɒl-; Russian bəl ʃɪˈvyik/
noun, plural Bolsheviks, Bolsheviki
[bohl-shuh-vik-ee, -vee-kee; Russian buh l-shi-vyi-kyee] /ˈboʊl ʃəˌvɪk i, -ˌvi ki; Russian bəl ʃɪ vyɪˈkyi/ (Show IPA)
1.
  1. a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic Party, 1903–17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.
  2. (after 1918) a member of the Russian Communist Party.
2.
(loosely) a member of any Communist party.
3.
Disparaging. an extreme political radical; revolutionary or anarchist.
Also, bolshevik.
Origin
1915-20; < Russian bolʾshevík, equivalent to bólʾsh(iĭ) larger, greater (comparative of bolʾshóĭ large; compare bolʾshinstvó majority) + -evik, variant of -ovik noun suffix; cf. Menshevik
Related forms
anti-Bolshevik, noun, adjective
non-Bolshevik, noun
pro-Bolshevik, adjective, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Bolshevik

Bolshevik

/ˈbɒlʃɪvɪk/
noun (pl) -viks, -viki (-ˈviːkɪ)
1.
(formerly) a Russian Communist Compare Menshevik
2.
any Communist
3.
(often not capital) (jocular, derogatory) any political radical, esp a revolutionary
Derived Forms
Bolshevism, noun
Bolshevist, adjective, noun
Bolshevistic, adjective
Word Origin
C20: from Russian Bol'shevik majority, from bol'shoi great; from the fact that this group formed a majority of the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1903
Word Origin and History for Bolshevik
n.

1917, from Russian bol'shiy "greater," comparative of adjective bol'shoy "big, great" (cf. Bolshoi Ballet), from Old Church Slavonic boljiji "larger," from PIE root *bel- "strong" (cf. Sanskrit balam "strength, force," Greek beltion "better," Phrygian balaios "big, fast," Old Irish odbal "strong," Welsh balch "proud;" Middle Dutch, Low German, Frisian pal "strong, firm").

It was the faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party after a split in 1903 that was either larger or more extreme (or both) than the Mensheviks (from Russian men'shij "less"); after they seized power in 1917, applied generally to Russian communists. Bolshevism is recorded from 1917.