bipartisan

Etymology

It is formed from English bi- (“two”) + partisan (“supporter of a party”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The adjective partisan, "of a party", is from French partisan, from a dialectal Old Italian partisano, a variant of partigiano,^[7] from parte (“part, party”), from Latin pars (“part”).^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Representing or made up of members of two political parties: 1891 in Merriam-Webster,^[4] 1894 in Etymonline,^[3] and 1895 in the Collegiate.^[8] The OED's first record is only from 1909, in Webster's New International Dictionary,^[2] and Dictionary.com dates the word 1905–10.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OED defines it broadly, of two parties "political or other",^[2][5] but in use it is chiefly political, and the specific sense of agreement and cooperation between two major political parties is the one Merriam-Webster singles out.^[4][8] The noun bipartisanship is recorded from 1950,^[9] and Dictionary.com also lists bipartisanism.^[6]

Timeline

• 1891 – first known use, of two parties.^[4]
• 1894 – composed of members of two political parties.^[3]
• 1950 – bipartisanship.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made up of, representing or supported by members of two parties, especially two political parties: a bipartisan committee.^{[4][10][2][11]}
2. Marked by cooperation and compromise between two major political parties: The bill passed with bipartisan support.^[4][8]

Word family

• bipartisanism
• bipartisanship

Related words

• partisan
• party
• part

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin