Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A criminal who is respected, has authority and a high ranking status within the criminal underworld in the old Soviet Union, Russia and the republics that formed the former Soviet Union.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A calque from Russian вор ("thief") в ("in") законе ("law")

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