statesman

Etymology

It is formed from English state + man, with the first part in the genitive (“state's man”).^[2][3][4] In its main sense it follows Middle French homme d'état, recorded from the late 14th century;^[2][5][6][7] Dutch staatsman (17th century), German Staatsmann (1677), Swedish statsman (1685) and Danish statsmand (before 1719) are similar formations.^[2] Dictionary.com adds that it was modelled on steersman, and compares the phrase ship of state.^[8] The northern dialect sense, a small landowner, was probably formed separately, from state in the sense of an estate.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who takes a leading part in the affairs of a state; a skilled and respected politician: 1592, in Thomas Nashe's Pierce Penilesse.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to the 1590s.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word carried praise: one versed in the art of government, able and wise.^[7][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as a politician, one versed in the arts of government, and also as one employed in public affairs.^[9] From about 1700 it was also used of people who give political opinions without taking part in government, chiefly with a modifying word.^[2] In northern England and East Anglia, from 1787, a statesman was the owner of a small landed estate, a yeoman, a sense now chiefly historical.^[2][10] The modern contrast with politician, the statesman serving the public good and the politician himself, appears in Merriam-Webster's second sense, wise leadership without narrow partisanship.^[3] The feminine stateswoman is recorded from about 1600.^[7] The OED also records Statesman, formed on the plural States, for a subject of the States of Holland between 1603 and 1665.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1592 – a leading politician, in Nashe's Pierce Penilesse.^[2][3]
• c. 1600 – the feminine stateswoman.^[7]
• 1603 – Statesman, a subject of the States of Holland (to 1665).^[2]
• before 1704 – one who gives political opinions without taking part in government, in Locke.^[2]
• 1787 – northern and East Anglian, a small landowner, a yeoman.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person, especially a man, who is skilled in the art of government and takes a leading part in the affairs of a state.^{[3][11][12][2]}
2. A political leader respected for wisdom and integrity, who works for the public good rather than for party advantage: She was a politician who became a stateswoman.^[3][11][12]
3. A respected leader in some other field.^[11]
4. (historical) In northern England, the owner of a small estate; a yeoman.^[2]

Word family

• statesmanlike
• statesmanship
• statesmanly
• superstatesman
• elder statesman

Related words

• stateswoman
• state
• man
• estate
• steersman

Usage notes

Barry Popik traces the saying that a statesman is a politician who is dead to Thomas Brackett Reed, who wrote in 1892 that a statesman is a successful politician who is dead, and to Harry Truman, who repeated it in 1958.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "A statesman is a politician who is dead", 5 December 2009