maoist
Meaning
Relating to or supporting the communist doctrines of Mao Zedong.
A supporter or follower of the communist doctrines of Mao Zedong.
Structure
Usage
The maoist guerrilla group controlled the remote region for decades.
His political philosophy is deeply maoist in its emphasis on peasant revolution.
The party split into several factions, including a staunchly maoist one.
Etymology
The term 'Maoist' is a modern political formation, constructed in the mid-20th century. It combines the surname 'Mao', referring to the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, with the productive English suffix '-ist', which denotes an adherent of a specific doctrine or practice. This follows a well-established pattern in English for forming ideological labels, such as 'Marxist' or 'Leninist'. The word's logic is transparent: it directly names the figure whose theories form the core of the ideology, with the suffix specifying a person who follows or a concept pertaining to that ideology.
Analysis
- mao: A proper name (Mao Zedong), from Chinese 毛 (Máo), a common surname. - ist: A suffix forming agent nouns and adjectives, from Latin -ista, from Greek -ιστής (-istēs), denoting an adherent of a practice or system.