zek
1
9.9
A prisoner kept in a Soviet work camp under Stalin
- noun
- /zɛk/
- Archaic
:
zek
- You stinking zek.
Examples
-
Come on, you zeks!
-
Move, zeks.
-
Break the filthy zek's bones.
-
Get it Zek!
-
All zeks in!
-
Burn in hell, zeks.
-
Dr. Ho-lec-zek.
-
The reader will learn that zona (zone) refers to the Gulag camp and that zek means prisoner or convict (from the Russian abbreviation 'z/k' of the word zakliuchennii, meaning 'prisoner').
Academic text (2011) -
The Zek shared his story of survival in the harsh conditions of the labor camp.
-
During the Stalin era, many zeks endured difficult lives marked by hard labor and deprivation.
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word zek comes from Russian and is a short form of заключённый ('imprisoned'), written as the abbreviation з/к and spoken as зэк. So zek refers to a prisoner, especially one held in Soviet labor camps.