Marxists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of political theorists and activists who advocate for the ideas of a certain 19th-century philosopher and economist, emphasizing class struggle and materialist interpretation of history
2. Individuals or factions that support or promote a specific socio-economic theory centered on collective ownership and the critique of capitalism, rooted in the works of a notable political thinker
3. Advocates of a revolutionary ideology aimed at establishing a classless society through the abolition of private property, drawing heavily on the writings of a famous European philosopher

Etymology: "Marxists" is simply the plural of "Marxist," so its history is that of the noun it pluralises. "Marxist" is formed from the surname "Marx," referring to the German philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883), plus the suffix "-ist," which denotes a follower or adherent of a doctrine, as in "socialist" or "capitalist." The name therefore marks a person as a supporter of Marx's ideas, much as "Darwinist" marks a follower of Darwin. The noun is a piecewise doublet of "Marxista," the Romance-language form of the same coinage, meaning the two words developed in parallel from the same source rather than one being borrowed from the other. Each language formed its own adherent word from Marx's name, so English and the Romance tongues arrived at near-identical terms independently.

Synonyms: communists, socialists, leftists

Antonyms: capitalists, conservatives, rightists