parliamentarian

Etymology

It is formed from English parliament + -arian.^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline instead derives it from parliamentary with -ian.^[6] The OED compares the earlier nouns parliamenteer and parliament man, and for the adjective the earlier parliamentary and parliamental.^[2] Parliament itself is from Old French parlement (“a speaking, talk”), from parler (“to speak”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, from 1605, has a sense that died out within a few years: a person who accepts a religion or church ordained or ruled by parliament.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1605–15.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word found its lasting use in the English Civil War, for a supporter of Parliament against the King, a Roundhead: from 1642 in the OED,^[2] in the 1640s in Etymonline,^[6] 1642 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged^[5] and 1644 in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate.^[7] In this historical sense it is usually capitalized.^[2][5] The adjective, relating to a parliament or to the Parliamentarians, is recorded from 1647.^[2] From 1834 a parliamentarian was a Member of Parliament, especially one skilled in parliamentary procedure and experienced in debate.^[2][6][3] From 1889 the word was extended to members of other parliaments, at first a member of a French parlement.^[2] It also names an expert in the rules of a parliament or other deliberative assembly.^[5][8][7][9]

Timeline

• 1605 – one who accepts a religion ordained by parliament (obsolete by 1613).^[2]
• 1642 – a supporter of Parliament in the English Civil War; a Roundhead.^[2][5] Etymonline dates it to the 1640s.^[6]
• 1647 – adjective, relating to a parliament or to the Parliamentarians.^[2]
• 1834 – a Member of Parliament skilled in procedure and debate.^[2][6]
• 1889 – a member of any other parliament.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An expert in the rules and procedures of a parliament or other deliberative assembly: The chair turned to the parliamentarian for a ruling.^[5][8][9]
2. A member of a parliament, especially one experienced in debate; in Britain, a Member of Parliament.^[8][9][2]
3. (often capitalized) A supporter of Parliament against the King in the English Civil War; a Roundhead.^[5][8][9][2]
4. (obsolete, 1605–1613) A person who accepts a religion or church ordained by parliament.^[2][3]

Adjective

1. Relating to a parliament; parliamentary.^[5][9][2]
2. Relating to Parliament or its supporters in the English Civil War.^[9][2]

Word family

• parliamentarianism

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 o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), 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 Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins