no·men·kla·tu·ra (n??m?n-klä-to?or??, nô?my?n-klä-to?or?ä)n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The privileged set of people appointed by patronage to senior positions in the bureaucracy of the Soviet Union and some other Communist states.[Russian, from Latin n?mencl?t?ra, list of names; see nomenclature.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.nomenklatura (?n??m?nkl??t?u?r?) n (Historical Terms) (formerly, in the USSR and E Europe) a list of individuals drawn up by the Communist Party from which were selected candidates for vacant senior positions in the state, party, and other important organizations[C20: Russian, from Latin n?mencl?t?ra list of names]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014no?men?kla?tu?ra (?no? m?n kl??t??r ?) n., pl. -ras. a select list or class of people from which appointees for top-level government positions are drawn, esp. from the Communist Party in the U.S.S.R. [1980?85;