filibuster English · revision 352

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɪlɪbʌstə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfɪləˌbəstər/, /ˈfɪləbʌstɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|filibustero|t=freebooter]]^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and from French ''flibustier'' (earlier ''fribustier''),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) ultimately [[der|nl|vrijbuiter|t=freebooter]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) English had earlier taken the Dutch word directly as ''flibutor'' “pirate”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Spanish inserted the ''-i-'' of the first syllable, and French the ''-s-'', which at first was not pronounced.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[freebooter]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A freebooter or pirate, especially one of the buccaneers who plundered the Spanish colonies in the West Indies in the 17th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1851 American English used it of adventurers who led private military expeditions from the United States into Latin America.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) In Congress the verb came to mean obstructing legislative business,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) the noun was applied to a legislator who prolongs debate,^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) and from 1890 it named the obstructive tactic itself.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1587 – ''flibutor'', a freebooter.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1792 – a West Indian buccaneer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1851 – an American adventurer in Latin America;^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) the OED dates this sense 1854.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1853 – verb, to obstruct a legislature, by the OED's date;^(OED 1989) Etymonline dates the legislative verb 1861.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – a legislator who obstructs.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1890 – an act of legislative obstruction, in the ''Congressional Record''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The use of delaying tactics, especially very long speeches, to obstruct action in a legislature; an instance of this.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A legislator who makes such speeches.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An adventurer who takes part in an unauthorized military expedition in a foreign country.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To obstruct legislation by a filibuster.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To take part in a private military action in a foreign country.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[filibusterer]]

+ * [[filibusterism]]

+ * [[filibusterous]]

+ * [[antifilibuster]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[freebooter]]

+ * [[buccaneer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}