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Soviet Union

Soviet Union

3.8
A former country of several republics in eastern Europe and northern Asia, including Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991
  • proper noun
  • /ˈsoʊviət ˈjuːnɪən/
translation icon : Unión Soviética
  • The formal breakup of the Soviet Union took place on 26 December 1991.
  • collapse of the Soviet Union
  • the former Soviet Union
  • World War II and the Soviet Union

And then he flew over the Soviet Union taking photographs.

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Examples

  • I was an immigrant born in the former Soviet Union, kind of cliche story.

  • - Ukraine split from the Soviet Union in 1991.

  • Now, being from the Soviet Union, I love a good show trial.

  • When you were in the Soviet Union, did you think of yourself?

  • But the Soviet Union was about to enter the war.

  • Two years, after the wall fell, the Soviet Union was no more.

  • The collapse of the Soviet Union.

  • Hey, there's an article about the Soviet Union right here in the paper.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Cuba imports nearly all of its petroleum from the Soviet Union at below world market prices.

    Academic text (1990)
  • I was born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union.

Synonyms

USSR
vsSoviet Union
45 3.8

A former union of communist republics in eastern Europe and northern Asia

is the full common name rather than the abbreviated form

A former large country in eastern Europe and northern Asia with a communist government

is the common informal name used instead of the formal title

Surface Forms

Morphology

Soviet + union

The headword is partly compositional: 'union' denotes a political grouping and 'Soviet' signals the Soviet/council/communist association, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a political union related to Soviets. However, as a specific historical proper name with details (time period, member republics, ideological context) that are not recoverable from the parts alone, full understanding requires prior exposure or background knowledge.

Etymology

Soviet Union comes from the Russian idea behind Soviet, which means 'council', and Union, which means 'a group joined together'. That's why the name meant a country made of many states ruled by councils and was used for that nation from 1922 to 1991.