Etymologically
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candidacy

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkændɪdəsi/[1]
  • US: /ˈkændɪdəsi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English candidate + -acy,[2][3][4] on the model of pairs such as magistrate and magistracy.[2][5][6] Candidate is from Latin candidātus (“clothed in white; a candidate for office”), because candidates for office wore a white toga, from candidus (“white”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The position or status of a candidate: 1810, in the Georgia Argus of Milledgeville, Georgia.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single sense, the state of standing as a candidate.[2][5] Its first record is American, and the dictionaries date it variously: 1810 in the current OED,[2] 1822 in Etymonline,[4] 1848 in Merriam-Webster[5] and 1852 in the OED's first edition.[7] The British equivalent candidature, formed after French with the suffix -ure, is recorded from 1823,[2][3] and Merriam-Webster labels it chiefly British.[5]

Timeline

  • 1810 – the position or status of a candidate, in a Georgia newspaper.[2]
  • 1822 – Etymonline's first date.[4]
  • 1823 – candidature, in the London Morning Post.[2]
  • 1848 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The state of being a candidate, or of standing as one, especially for an elected office: She announced her candidacy for the city council.[5][2][3]

Word family

  • precandidacy

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster gives candidature as chiefly British,[5] and Chambers lists candidature, candidateship and candidacy together.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers