Etymology Map
Back to all words

Stakhanovite

2 stages from Russian to English.

Today it means an exceptionally hard-working or productive worker

Where does the word "stakhanovite" come from? It comes from Russian stakhanovets, adopted directly into English (1935).

1
Stage 1 of 2
stakhanovets
Russian · 1935
"record-breaking worker"
after Alexei Stakhanov, a Donbas miner who on 31 August 1935 cut 102 tonnes of coal in under six hours, 14 times his quota, in a record staged to launch a productivity campaign
2
Stage 2 of 2
Stakhanovite
English · 1935
"exceptionally productive worker"
Stakhanov appeared on the cover of Time magazine in December 1935, and the word came to mean any zealously hard worker
Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Read the full story

Stakhanovite’s story begins in Russian: stakhanovets meant “record-breaking worker.” After Alexei Stakhanov, a Donbas miner who on 31 August 1935 cut 102 tonnes of coal in under six hours, 14 times his quota, in a record staged to launch a productivity campaign. It reached English by 1935 as Stakhanovite. Stakhanov appeared on the cover of Time magazine in December 1935, and the word came to mean any zealously hard worker. Today, stakhanovite means an exceptionally hard-working or productive worker.