'socialist' originates from French, specifically the word 'socialiste', where the element 'social-' related to 'society' and the suffix '-iste' indicated an adherent or advocate.

'socialist' changed from the French word 'socialiste' and was adopted into English in the early 19th century (around the 1820s–1840s) as 'socialist'. The French 'socialiste' itself formed from 'social' + '-iste'.

Initially, it meant 'an advocate of social ownership, cooperative organization, or broad social reform'; over time the term has broadened to cover a range of left-wing positions and is sometimes used more loosely to describe welfare-state or progressive policies.