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A calque of the German word Kommunismus (from Marx and Engels's Manifesto of the Communist Party), in turn a calque of the French word communisme, which was formed from commun (common) (from Latin communis) and the suffix -isme (-ism).


  • IPA(key): /ˈkɒm.juˌnɪzm̩/


communism (countable and uncountable, plural communisms)

  1. Any political ideology or philosophy advocating holding the production of resources collectively.
    Synonym: aspheterism (dated, rare)
    • 1932, D. H. Lawrence, The Letters of D.H. Lawrence, Edited by A. Huxley[1], page 219:
      I want to gather together about twenty souls and sail away from this world of war and squalor and found a little colony where there shall be no money but a sort of communism as far as necessaries of life go, and some real decency.
  3. The international socialist society where classes, money, and the state no longer exist.

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Further readingEdit

  • "communism" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 73.