managerial

Etymology

It is formed from English manager + -ial,^[2][3][4][5] perhaps on the model of ministerial.^[2] manager is the agent noun of manage,^[3][2] a verb first used of handling and training a horse,^[3] and ultimately from Italian maneggiare (“to handle, touch; to control a horse”), from Latin manus (“hand”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a manager: 1758, in W. Shirley's remarks on the state of the drama,^[2] where the manager is that of a theatre, the sense the OED once gave as the main one.^[6] Etymonline and the first edition of the OED dated it to 1767,^[3][6] and Dictionary.com to 1760–70.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed its base: manager was applied to a person who runs a business or a public institution from 1705,^[3] and to one who organizes the activities of performers or players from before 1744.^[2] Where the first OED stressed the theatre manager, the revised entry of 2025 says the word now refers chiefly to the manager of a business,^[6][2] and the Shorter Oxford speaks of a professional manager within an organization.^[7] The noun managerialism, belief in conducting business or other enterprises through professional managers, is dated by the Shorter Oxford to the mid-20th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 1758 – of or relating to a manager, in a work on the drama.^[2]
• 1767 – the first date given by Etymonline and the first edition of the OED.^[3][6]
• mid 20th century – managerialism, reliance on professional managers.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a manager or to management, or to its duties and position: After five years on the shop floor she moved into a managerial role.^[8][5][2]
2. Typical of a manager: He spoke in a brisk, managerial tone.^[5][2]

Word family

• managerially
• nonmanagerial

Related words

• management
• manager
• manage
• ministerial

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins