presidency

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹɛzɪdənsi/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin praesidentia (“office of a president”),^[2][3][4] from Latin praesidens, president, governor (see president), from praesidēre (“to sit before, preside”).^[2][4] SOED also compares Spanish and Portuguese presidencia and Italian presidenza.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The office of a president, superintendence: 1591 in the OED, the 1590s in Etymonline;^[6][2] MWU dates a sense to 1581.^[3] Earlier were presidentship (1520s) and presidence (about 1500).^[2]

Semantic evolution

A president's term of office is from the 1610s.^[2] A superior or leading position is an obsolete sense of 1608.^[6] In British India, each of the three divisions of the East India Company's territory was a presidency, from 1698.^[6][2] Among the Mormons the First Presidency is the board of presiding officers.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – presidence.^[2]
• 1591 – the office of president.^[6]
• 1610s – a president's term.^[2]
• 1698 – an Indian presidency.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The office or position of a president.
2. The period during which a president holds office.
3. (historical) Each of the three administrative divisions of British India.

Related words

• president
• preside
• presidential
• sit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press