nomenklatura

Meanings

1. A list of bureaucratic posts in government and industry in the former Soviet Union and other communist countries, filled by those appointed by the Party.
2. The people on such lists; (by extension), any privileged class, a social or political elite.

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian номенклату́ра (nomenklatúra), from Latin nōmenclātūra (“a calling by name, list of names”), from nomen (“name”) + calare (“call”). Doublet of nomenclature.