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chairwoman

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Etymology and origin of the English word chairwoman

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1650 title page of Good Womens Cryes, by “M. Stiff” More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origins
Old French chaiereOld English wif,man
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English chair
English chairwoman
From the same root
English armchair ← chair
English chairman ← chair
English chairperson ← chair
English wheelchair ← chair

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈtʃeəˌwʊmən/[1]
  • US: /ˈtʃerˌwʊmən/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English chair + woman, formed after chairman.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A woman who presides over a meeting or debate: 1650, on the title page of Good Womens Cryes.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to 1685, Etymonline to 1699 and Dictionary.com to 1690–1700.[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was formed beside chairman, recorded from the 1620s,[2] Etymonline dates the sense of a person chosen to preside at meetings to about 1730 for chairman and to 1699 for chairwoman.[2][3] From 1655 a chairwoman could also be a woman heading an organization, company or committee.[2] The form of address Madam Chairwoman is recorded from 1905, and the sense of a woman heading a university department from 1948, both chiefly American.[2] Since the 1960s chairperson, recorded from 1971, has been widely used instead of either chairman or chairwoman.[4][3]

Timeline

  • 1650 – a woman who presides over a meeting.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1685, and Etymonline to 1699.[5][3]
  • 1655 – a woman who heads an organization, company or committee.[2]
  • 1905 – Madam Chairwoman, as a form of address.[2]
  • 1948 – a woman who heads a university or college department.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A woman who presides over a meeting or debate.[5][2]
  2. A woman who heads an organization, company, committee or event.[5][2]
  3. (chiefly US) A title or form of address for a woman in the chair, in Madam Chairwoman.[2]
  4. (chiefly US) A woman who heads an academic department.[2]

Usage notes

Dictionary.com notes that chairperson has been used since the 1960s as an alternative to both chairman and chairwoman, largely from a wish to avoid chairman; it also gives chairlady as another name.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Chairwoman.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/chairwoman. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·