Etymologically
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strategic

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /strəˈtiː.dʒɪk/, /strætˈiː.dʒɪk/, US /strəˈtiː.dʒɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French stratégique and directly from a Latinized form of Ancient Greek στρατηγικός (stratēgikós, “of or for a general”),[2][3][4] from στρατηγός (stratēgós, “commander of an army”).[2][3][5] It is related to strategy and stratagem.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to strategy, useful or important in strategy: 1807 in Etymonline, 1825 in the OED and MWU.[2][6][5]

Semantic evolution

Of nuclear weapons intended to destroy an enemy's ability to make war, it is from 1957,[6] and of materials essential to a country for fighting a war, from 1958.[6][2] Strategic bombing is from 1961 in the OED.[6] More loosely, it means simply important, or involving careful planning towards an advantage.[4]

Timeline

  • 1807 – relating to strategy.[2]
  • 1957 – of nuclear weapons.[6]
  • 1958 – of war materials.[6][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Relating to strategy.
  2. Important or essential to a plan or goal.
  3. Of weapons or attacks, aimed at an enemy's homeland and its ability to make war rather than at the battlefield.

Word family

  • strategically
  • strategical
  • unstrategic
  • nonstrategic

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  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