Communalists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals advocating for communal ownership and collective decision-making within a society
2. individuals who prioritize community interests over individual ones
3. those who support the idea that property and resources should be shared among members of a community rather than owned privately

Etymology: "Communalists" is the plural of "communalist", a noun for a person who supports communal ownership and collective decision-making. The singular is built from "communal", which in turn comes from "commune" plus the adjectival ending "-al", with the agent suffix "-ist" added to name a follower of the idea. Its closest relative is French "communaliste", and the English form appears to have been modelled on it, so the word reached English by way of French political vocabulary rather than being a direct Latin coinage. The plural simply applies the ordinary "-s" to indicate more than one such person, so a "communalists" is a supporter of the same movement, and the group is seen as members who share the belief. The word therefore describes people rather than the doctrine itself, which is named separately by "communalism".

Synonyms: collectivists, socialists, cooperativists, community advocates, group-oriented individuals

Antonyms: individualists, capitalists, self-reliant, independents, isolated