councillor

Etymology

It is an alteration of counsellor by association with council,^[1][2][3][4] and Dictionary.com takes it as formed from English council + -or, replacing conseiler (“adviser”).^[5] The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, notes that neither French nor Latin had a separate form for a member of a council, as if from a hypothetical Latin *conciliarius, beside cōnsiliārius (“counsellor”).^[4] The noun council itself comes from Latin concilium (“meeting, gathering”), through Anglo-Norman and Old French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of a council: in the 15th century,^[1] early in that century according to Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the split between councillor, a member of a council, and counsellor, one who gives advice, is modern.^[4] The word was used of members of a ruler's council of state (compare privy councillor), of the council of a colonial government, and of a town, city or county council.^[6] In Canada before Confederation a councillor was an appointed member of the Executive or Legislative Council, a sense now kept only in Quebec,^[7] and in Prince Edward Island one of two members of the Legislative Assembly elected for each riding.^[8] The derivative councillorship dates from the late 16th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 15th century – a member of a council.^[1][4]
• late 16th century – councillorship.^[3]
• 1836 – in Canada, a member of the Legislative or Executive Council.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A member of a council, especially an elected member of a local or municipal council: She was re-elected as a parish councillor.^[9][8][3]
2. (Canada, historical) An appointed member of a colonial Executive or Legislative Council.^[7][8]

Word family

• councillorship

Related words

• council
• counselor
• counsel

Usage notes

Councillor is the usual British and Canadian spelling, and councilor the American one.^[9][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
8. ^ a b c d Barber, Katherine, ed. (2004), The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Toronto: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins