zemstvo
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zemst·vo
(zĕmst′vō, zyĕm′stvə)n. pl. zemst·vos
An elective council responsible for the local administration of a provincial district in czarist Russia.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
zemstvo
(ˈzɛmstvəʊ; Russian ˈzjɛmstvə)n, pl -stvos
(Historical Terms) (in tsarist Russia) an elective provincial or district council established in most provinces of Russia by Alexander II in 1864 as part of his reform policy
[C19: from Russian, from zemlya land; related to Latin humus earth, Greek khamai on the ground]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
zem•stvo
(ˈzɛmst voʊ)n., pl. -stvos.
one of a system of elected local assemblies in Russia from 1864 to 1917.
[1860–65; < Russian zémstvo, derivative of zemlyá land, earth; see humus]
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