[com.mu.nism] n [F communisme, fr. commun common] (1840) 1 a: a theory advocating elimination of private property b: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2. cap a: a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the U.S.S.R. b: a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c: a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d: communist systems collectively