oblast

US: (ob′last, -läst; Russ. ô′bləst)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

o•blast  (ob′last, -läst; Russ. ô′bləst), n., pl. o•blasts, Russ. o•bla•sti 

(ô′blə styē). 
1. Government (in Russia and the Soviet Union) an administrative division corresponding to an autonomous province.
2. Government region;
   province.

• Russian óblast', Old Russian oblastĭ, equivalent. to ob- against, on + vlastĭ authority, power; see volost
• 1885–90