congressional

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəŋˈɡɹɛ.ʃə.nəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from congress and -al, with -ion- inserted after Latin congressio (“a meeting”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a congress: before 1691 in the OED, the 1690s in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Of the Congress of the American states it is from 1775–76.^[5][2] The word was at first reviled as barbarous, but Pickering (1816) quotes an English correspondent: The term Congress belonging to America, the Americans may employ its derivatives, without waiting for the assent of the English.^[2] Bartlett's dictionary of Americanisms (1848) cites Webster and Marshall for it.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1691 – of a congress.^[5]
• 1775 – of the US Congress.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to a congress, especially the Congress of the United States.

Word family

• congressionalist
• congressionally
• precongressional
• uncongressional
• congressional district

Related words

• congress
• congressman
• congresswoman
• progress
• egress
• grade

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford