Etymologically
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landslide

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈlæn(d).slaɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English land + slide,[2][3][4][5] first recorded in American English.[5][6] The earlier word was landslip, from the 1670s, which is still preferred in Britain.[5][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sliding down of a large mass of earth or rock from a slope: 1822, in the Boston Daily Advertiser.[2][4] Etymonline dates it 1841,[5] and Dictionary.com 1830–40, as an Americanism.[6]

Semantic evolution

Old English had used eorþgebyrst (“earth-burst”) for such a fall of earth.[5] The political sense, an overwhelming majority of votes for one party or candidate, followed in 1856, in the Boston Daily Atlas;[2] Etymonline finds it by 1885 in Chicago newspapers.[5] The word was used attributively of such results, as in landslide victory, from 1890,[2] and as a verb, to win an election by a huge majority, from 1926.[4] The word is also used figuratively.[2]

Timeline

  • 1670s – landslip, the earlier word.[5]
  • 1822 – a fall of earth or rock from a slope.[2][4]
  • 1856 – an overwhelming majority of votes in an election.[2]
  • 1890 – attributive, as in landslide victory.[2]
  • 1926 – verb, to win an election by a huge majority.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sudden sliding of a large mass of earth, rock or soil down a slope, mountain or cliff; also the material that falls: The road was closed after a landslide buried it.[7][4][2]
  2. An overwhelming victory in an election, or a huge majority of votes for one side: The opposition won by a landslide.[7][4][2]
  3. (as a modifier) Won by such a majority: a landslide victory.[7][2]

Verb

  1. To win an election by an overwhelming majority.[4]
  2. To produce a landslide.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins