propiska means a system of population control in the ex-USSR, (regional) residence permit, registration. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 93 out of 100.
propiska is pronounced /pɹəˈpɪskə/.
Why “propiska” is a great word
PROPISKA — [Noun] A system of mandatory residential registration and the official permit documenting one's authorized place of residence, used for population control in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states. Borrowed from Russian пропи́ска (propíska), from пропи́сывать (propísyvatʹ, "to write into, to inscribe"). Unlike "domicile," which denotes a legal home, or "visa," which grants entry to a foreign country, a *propiska* is an internal inscription—a bureaucratic verdict binding a citizen to a specific town, street, or room. It is the faded purple stamp in a Soviet passport that dictated where one could sleep; the interminable queue at the militsiya office for a slip of paper; the paper chain that tethered human movement to administrative fiat. In the end, it rendered geography not a fact of life, but an entry in the state's meticulous ledger.
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian пропи́ска (propíska), from пропи́сывать (propísyvatʹ, “write into”).
noun
- a system of population control in the ex-USSR, (regional) residence permit, registration
- the stamp in the Soviet internal passport (serving as a personal ID) with the registered address.
- domicile, place where one lives (as stated in the stamp)