| potemkin | (n) a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791), Syn. Grigori Potemkin, Grigori Potyokin, Potyokin, Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin |