English Explanatory Dictionary

socialism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
  2. A system of social and economic equality in which there is no private property.
  3. A system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
  4. The intermediate phase of social development between capitalism and communism in Marxist theory in which the state has control of the means of production.
  5. Any of a group of later political philosophies such democratic socialism and social democracy which do not envisage the need for full state ownership of the means of production nor transition to full communism, and which are typically based on principles of community decision making, social equality and the avoidance of economic and social exclusion, with economic policy giving first preference to community goals over individual ones.
  6. Any left-wing ideology, government regulations, or policies promoting a welfare state, nationalisation, etc.

Pronunciation

/ˈsoʊʃəlɪzəm/ /ˈsəʊʃəlɪzəm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-socialism.wav

Word forms

socialism socialisms

Etymology

Attested since 1832; either from French socialisme or from social + -ism.

Antonyms

capitalism free enterprise

Related words

social social democracy social democrat social democratic socialisation socialise socialist socialistic socialistically socialization socialize anarchism authoritarianism autonomism Bernsteinism Blairism bolshevism Bushism capitalism Clintonism collectivism communism conservatism fascism free enterprise Gaitskellism Gorbachevism Hitlerism individualism justicialism Khrushchevism Kirchnerism Leninism liberalism Maoism Marxism Marxism-Leninism Peronism Pétainism progressivism Reaganism Rooseveltism Stalinism syndicalism Thatcherism Titoism totalitarianism trade unionism Trotskyism Trudeauism Trumpism

Derived words

antisocialism anti-socialism authoritarian socialism brocialism Buddhist socialism champagne socialism Christian socialism democratic socialism demsoc Dhammic socialism ecosocialism eco-socialism enviro-socialism ethical socialism Eurosocialism evolutionary socialism Fabian socialism Fabianism global socialism guild socialism identity socialism international socialism Islamic socialism Jewish socialism lectern socialism lemon socialism liberal socialism libertarian socialism market socialism National Socialism neosocialism penthouse socialism postsocialism presocialism professorial socialism pseudo-socialism real socialism religious socialism revolutionary socialism Ricardian socialism right-wing socialism scientific socialism secular socialism semisocialism sewer socialism silver-spoon socialism Smithian socialism socialism in one country socialism of the chair socialism with a human face state socialism unsocialism utopian socialism
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