Cosmopolite

Kosmopolit was a code word used by propagandists in the Soviet Union to refer to Jews who wanted to emigrate to Israel (see also refusenik).

It was a way for the Party apparatus to indicate to the masses that expressing the notion that some place might be more desireable to live in than the worker's paradise was a good way to quickly lose your social standing (see also: unperson).

Cos`mo*pol"i*tan (-p?l"?-tan), Cos*mop"o*lite (k?z-m?p"?-l?t), n. [Gr. ; the world + citizen, city: cf. F. cosmopolitain, cosmopolite.]

One who has no fixed residence, or who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Cos`mo*pol"i*tan, Cos*mop"o*lite, a.

1.

Having no fixed residence; at home in any place; free from local attachments or prejudices; not provincial; liberal.

In other countries taste is perphaps too exclusively national, in Germany it is certainly too cosmopolite. Sir W. Hamilton.

2.

Common everywhere; widely spread; found in all parts of the world.

The Cheiroptera are cosmopolitan. R. Owen.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Cos*mop"o*lite (-m?p"?-l?t), a. & n.

See Cosmopolitan.

 

© Webster 1913.