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strategist

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Etymology and origin of the English word strategist

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation, Borrowing
First attested
1821 translation of the Greek inscription on the London Obelisk, in the Gentleman's Magazine
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek στρατηγός
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English strategy
English strategist

Pronunciation

  • /ˈstɹætəd͡ʒɪst/[1]

Etymology

The OED, which revised the entry in 2016, takes it as formed from English strategy + -ist, comparing French stratégiste (1831);[2] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com also derive it from the English noun,[3][4] while Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford take it as borrowed from the French word, itself from stratégie.[5][6] The English noun is from the same French word and also from Ancient Greek στρατηγία (stratēgía, “office or command of a general”),[5][2] from στρατηγός (stratēgós, “general, commander”),[5][2] which is formed from στρατός (stratós, “army”) and ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person skilled in military strategy: 1821, in a translation of the Greek inscription on the London Obelisk, printed in the Gentleman's Magazine.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1832,[3] Etymonline to 1838,[5] and Dictionary.com to 1830–40.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word came in soon after strategy itself, which Etymonline dates to 1810 in the sense of the art of a general,[5] and like it was at first military.[2][5] From 1894 it was used more widely of anyone skilled in planning a long-term or ambitious course of action,[2] as strategy had been used outside war by 1887.[5] Collins gives political strategist as a typical use.[7]

Timeline

  • 1821 – a person skilled in military strategy.[2]
  • 1894 – a person skilled in planning a long-term course of action.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person skilled in strategy, especially in planning the larger movements of a military campaign or war.[3][2][7]
  2. A person skilled in planning a long-term or ambitious course of action, as in politics or business: a campaign strategist.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Strategist.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/strategist. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·