Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The secret publication and distribution of government-banned literature in the former Soviet Union.
- noun The literature produced by this system.
- noun An underground press.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The
secret copying andsharing ofillegal publications, chiefly in theSoviet Union ;underground publishing and its publications. - noun countable A samizdat
publication .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a system of clandestine printing and distribution of dissident or banned literature
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word samizdat.
Examples
-
But of more interest is Hurree's desription of his own, cherished edition of the poem: "For years, like most of my generation, I'd been reading Kolatkar's classic poem-cycle in samizdat form — some of us had copies that had been xeroxed so often that Kolatkar's words assumed ghostly form on the page, some had painstakingly typed (yes, typed, as in on a manual typewriter) copies of the book with corrections made in violet ink."
A Different Stripe: 2006
-
But of more interest is Hurree's desription of his own, cherished edition of the poem: "For years, like most of my generation, I'd been reading Kolatkar's classic poem-cycle in samizdat form — some of us had copies that had been xeroxed so often that Kolatkar's words assumed ghostly form on the page, some had painstakingly typed (yes, typed, as in on a manual typewriter) copies of the book with corrections made in violet ink."
-
"For years, it circulated in samizdat on college campuses," wrote Owen, who told me that his profile of Meyer itself circulated in samizdat for five years, until a new editor came across it.
-
"For years, it circulated in samizdat on college campuses," wrote Owen, who told me that his profile of Meyer itself circulated in samizdat for five years, until a new editor came across it.
-
I should also point out right away that the comparison of these new tech-savvy professional activists to the Soviet-era "samizdat" -- so beloved by many analysts of new media's impact on politics and society -- is not really accurate.
Singabloodypore 2009
-
Others were passed on, from one to the next, the first instances of the hand to hand publication we later called samizdat.
In the Jaws of Kronos, Act III, scenes 1 & 2 David Ackley 2011
-
Others were passed on, from one to the next, the first instances of the hand to hand publication we later called samizdat.
In the Jaws of Kronos, Act III, scenes 1 & 2 David Ackley 2011
-
Previously we have called samizdat everything that has been issued illegaly due to censorship reason.
Russian drawings splogman 2006
-
An underground dissident literature, known as samizdat, developed during this late period.
-
Either my writings had become part of the underground circulation called samizdat, or they'd been pulled out of my hypothetical KGB file.
American Thinker 2009
arby commented on the word samizdat
NOUN: 1a. The secret publication and distribution of government-banned literature in the former Soviet Union. b. The literature produced by this system. 2. An underground press.
ETYMOLOGY: Russian : sam, self; see sem-1 in Appendix I + izdatel'stvo, publishing house (from izdat', to publish, on the model of Gosizdat, State Publishing House ( iz, from, out of; see eghs in Appendix I + dat', to give; see d- in Appendix I).
-------------------------------------------------------
I always thought it was a phonetic misspelling of "same as that" (unauthorized copies). Sadly, finding out that this is not the case doesn't make me like the word any more than I did before (1 - that rhymed, 2 - which was not at all).
May 4, 2007
slumry commented on the word samizdat
Dis? You want dis? It's the samizdat.
June 16, 2007
bilby commented on the word samizdat
I've seen this word used a bit more widely. For example in reference to non-mainstream, usually lefty presses. Especially if they also rely on non-mainstream distribution such as pasting their screeds on lamp-posts and so on.
November 23, 2007
tarigwaemir commented on the word samizdat
Used to refer to J. Incandenza's final film, "Infinite Jest" also known as the Entertainment, in David Foster Wallace's novel, Infinite Jest.
August 26, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word samizdat
"For about five years, beginning in 1995, I worked on the copy desk at the Village Voice. Aiding me in the battle against error were Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the fourteenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, published in 1993, and a samizdat-looking document containing the house style rules and bearing the enigmatic title "Small Craft Warnings." At any given moment one or all of these vade mecums lay open on my desk; the answer for anything could be found therein."
--From the article "Typo Analysis: The evolving narratives hidden in a classic style guide," by Ed Park on bookforum.com
November 25, 2010
reesetee commented on the word samizdat
That sounds very familiar--although to be sure, my samizdat-looking documents have never regarded small craft warnings.
November 28, 2010
qms commented on the word samizdat
If writing's ignored and lacks allure
There's a way to gain cachet for sure.
What strange fame is that?
You call it samizdat:
Become well known for being obscure.
February 13, 2014