Rada is the term for "parliament" or "assembly" or some other "council" in several

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

. Normally it is translated as "council". Sometimes it corresponds to "

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

", or in

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

contexts, to "

soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

". It also carries a meaning of advice, as in the English word "counsel".

Etymology

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

''rāt'' (from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

'' *rēdaz'') passed (possibly through

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

) into the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, Slovak, Ukrainian,

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

languages. Although some researches like K. P. Stanley et al. argued that contrary to the above stated hypothesis that the

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...

borrowed the words for council and related terms from

. Alternately the source was the

Gothic language Gothic is an extinct language, extinct East Germanic languages, East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only Ea ...

''radan - 𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌽'' - to council, to deliberate, that passed to West Slavic in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

during the Wielbark and

Chernyakhov The Chernyakhov culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Chernyakhov culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Ro ...

cultures presence along Vistula river and in Western Ukraine, as the term "rada" may be present in such first millennium CE names as Slavic Radogoszcz, Radgoszcz,

Radhošť Radhošť () is a mountain in the Czech Republic. It has an elevation of and belongs to the Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain range. It is located in Dolní Bečva and Trojanovice municipalities in the Zlín Region, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian ...

, Radegost,

Radagast Radagast the Brown is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium. A Wizard (Middle-earth), wizard and associate of Gandalf, he appears briefly in ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion ...

Ardagast Ardagast or Radogost Radagaisus Radagaisus (died 23 August 406) was a Gothic king who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406.Peter Heather, ''The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians'', 2nd ed. 2006:194; A committed p ...

. The dispersal to

East Slavic Languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of the Slavic languages, distinct from the West Slavic languages, West and South Slavic languages. East Slavic languages are currently spoken natively throughout Eastern Europe, ...

, could have happened later, possibly through

. ''Råd'' in Norwegian, Danish, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, ''Rat'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, ''neuvosto'' or ''raati'' in Finnish and ''nõukogu'' or ''raad'' in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

mean "council" or "assembly", but also "advice", as it does in East Slavic (except Russian) and West Slavic, but not South Slavic, languages. In Swedish the verb ''råda'' (to ''counsel'' or ''recommend'' is one meaning, the other is to ''rule'') is based on the substantive ''råd''. This is similar to Danish ''råd'' (noun) and ''råde'' (verb).

Examples

In Belarus *

Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic The Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic (, ) was the governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Since 1919, the Rada BNR has been in exile where it has preserved its existence among the Belarusian diaspora as an advocacy group ...

, provisional parliament of the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

(now in exile) *

Belarusian Central Rada The Belarusian Central Council (; ) was a puppet administrative body in German-occupied Belarus during World War II. It was established by Nazi Germany within ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' in 1943–44, following requests by collaborationist B ...

, the government of Belarus from 1943–44, which was established as a puppet by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

In the Czech Republic * Česká národní rada, parliament of the

Czech Socialist Republic The Czech Socialist Republic (, ČSR) was a republic within the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The name was used from 1 January 1969 to November 1989, when the previously unitary Czechoslovak state changed into a federation. From 1990 to 1992, ...

(1969–1990) and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

(1990–1992) In Poland * Rada Główna Opiekuńcza (Central Welfare Council) * Rada Jedności Narodowej (Council of National Unity) *

Rada Nieustająca The Permanent Council (; ) was the highest administrative authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1775 and 1789 and the first modern executive government in Europe. As is still typically the case in contemporary parliamentary p ...

(Permanent Council) * Rada Polityki Pieniężnej (Monetary Policy Council) *

Rada Trzech The Council of Three (, ) was a collegial body created by the Polish Government in Exile in 1954 with prerogatives of the President of Poland. It consisted of three members of the government chosen by the Council of National Unity (''Rada Jednośc ...

(Council of Three) * Rada robotnicza (Workers' Council) In Russia * Izbrannaya Rada, an unofficial governing organ established by tsar

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

from his closest courtiers *

Kuban Rada The Kuban Rada (; ) was the supreme organisation of the Kuban Cossacks, which represented all the heads of the districts. However, its head, Nakazny Ataman, was appointed by the Tsar directly. In April 1917, after the February Revolution, the Rada ...

, supreme council of the Kuban

Cossack host A Cossack host (; , ''kazachye voysko''), sometimes translated as Cossack army, was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in the Russian Empire. Earlier the term ''voysko'' ( host, in a sense as a doublet of ''guest'') referred to Cossack o ...

(1917-1920) In Slovakia * Slovenská národná rada (1848–1849) * Slovenská národná rada (1941) * Slovenská národná rada (1918) * Slovenská národná rada (1920) * Slovenská národná rada (1932) * Slovenská národná rada (1939–1940) * Slovenská národná rada (1943–1960) * Slovenská národná rada (1943–1992) * Národná rada Slovenskej republiky, the parliament of the

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

(since 1992) In Ukraine *

Cossack Rada A Cossack Rada (), also referred to as a General Host Council ( or ), was a political institution that existed in the Cossack Hetmanate and the culture of Zaporozhian Cossacks. A Cossack Rada served as the legislative, administrative and judicial ...

Sich Rada The Sich Council () was the highest branch of government of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and based at their center, the Zaporizhian Sich. It was also called . The Rada, a type of governing committee but with participation from the cossack members, ...

Host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

Council of Zaporizhian Sich ** Pereiaslavska rada, of the Pereiaslav Agreement of 1654 **

Chorna rada of 1663 The Black Council of 1663 () was a Cossack Rada meeting on 17–18 June 1663 near Nizhyn, Ukraine, where thousands of common Cossacks, Zaporozhians, Ukrainian peasants, including the Cossack ''starshyna'', where assembled to elect a new hetman ...

Tsentralna Rada The Central Rada of Ukraine, also called the Central Council (), was the All-Ukrainian council that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputies as well as few members of political, public, cultural and professional organizations o ...

( "Central Council"), parliament of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

* Verkhovna Rada of URSR, the Supreme Soviet of the

UkSSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

( "Supreme Council"), the parliament of Ukraine **

Verkhovna Rada building The Verkhovna Rada building () is located in the center of Kyiv, in the Pecherskyi District. The building is located at the Constitution Square. It is the place where the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) meets for all regular and ceremonial ...

** Rada TV channel *

Verkhovna Rada of Crimea Verkhovna Rada of Crimea or the Supreme Council of Crimea, officially the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, was the Ukrainian legislative body for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea before the annexation of Crimea by Russi ...

* Kyivska miska rada, Kyiv City Council Historically, the ''Verkhovna Rada'' was also the

Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (; ) was the Supreme Soviet, supreme soviet (main Legislature, legislative institution) and the highest organ of state power of Ukraine when it was known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukra ...

(), which was itself part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), the word ''rada'' replacing the Russian word ''soviet'' in both cases. See

official names of the Soviet Union The official names of the Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, in the languages of the Soviet Republics (presented in the constitutional order) and other languages of the USSR, were as follows. Official Repu ...

References

{{Reflist Legislatures pl:Rada ru:Рада