Moujiks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Rural peasants in Russia and other Slavic regions, often seen as part of a traditional agricultural class
2. Individuals engaged in farming, typically living in rural areas and working the land
3. A term denoting the lower social class in historic Russia, primarily associated with agriculture and peasant life

Etymology: "Moujik" is the Anglicized form of the Russian "мужик" (muzhik), a word meaning a peasant or simply a man, and "moujiks" is its plural. English adopted the singular and plural from Russian as a term for the rural peasantry of Russia, and the word carried that sense into the wider English-language discussion of Russian rural life. The Russian root goes back to "муж" (muzh), meaning "man" or "husband," which is the same stem behind words for a male adult in several Slavic languages. Russian added a diminutive-style ending to form "мужик," and the word came to mean a peasant, often in a slightly condescending sense, as opposed to a gentleman or townsman. Because "moujiks" is a plural, its story is really the story of the singular. Writers in English used the plural whenever they described groups of rural laborers, which is why the spelling and form that readers meet today follow the Russian word closely, with the "ou" representing the vowel in the Russian original.