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statesman

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsteɪtsmən/[1]

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

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