# soviet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsəʊvi.ət/ · frequency rank #2,811

## Definitions
1. A workers' council, an institution first formed during the 1905 Russian Revolution and then instituted as the main form of communist government at all levels in the Soviet Union; by extension, a similar organization in early Chinese communism and elsewhere.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Russian сове́т (sovét, “council”), from Old Russian borrowed from Old Church Slavonic съвѣтъ (sŭvětŭ, “advice”). Compounded from съ- (sŭ-) + вѣтъ (větŭ, “agreement”), from Proto-Slavic *větъ (“council, talk”). Related words include наве́т (navét), изве́т (izvét), отве́т (otvét), приве́т (privét), обе́т (obét), ве́че (véče), отвеча́ть (otvečátʹ), отве́тить (otvétitʹ), завеща́ть (zaveščátʹ), and совещаться (soveščatʹsja). Probably cognate with Polish witać (“to welcome”).

## Easily confused with
- **socket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/socket-vs-soviet)
- **sonnet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sonnet-vs-soviet)
- **sorbet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sorbet-vs-soviet)
- **society** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/society-vs-soviet)

## Common misspellings (8)
`osviet`, `soivet`, `soveit`, `soviett`, `sovite`, `sovviet`, `ssoviet`, `svoiet`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/soviet