strategy English · revision 3690

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1688|origins=grc στρατηγός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈstræt.ə.dʒi/, US /ˈstræt̬.ə.dʒi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|stratégie]] (16th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) and directly [[der|grc|στρατηγία|tr=stratēgía|t=office or command of a general]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|grc|στρατηγός|tr=stratēgós|t=general]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|στρατός|tr=stratós|t=army, multitude]] and [[m|grc|ἀγός|tr=agós|t=leader]], from [[m|grc|ἄγω|tr=ágō|t=to lead]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Stratós probably first meant “that which is spread out”, a camping army, from [[ine-pro|*stere-|t=to spread]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the verb is from [[ine-pro|*ag-|t=to drive, lead]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[stratagem]], [[strew]] and [[agent]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A province under a strategus, in Greek history: 1688, in the OED.^(OED 1989) The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins dates the word to the early 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Greek, stratēgía was the office of a general, and later a province governed by a strategos;^(Cresswell 2021) because a commander plans the larger movements of a campaign, the word had come to mean this planning by the late 18th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The military sense, the art of a commander-in-chief, is first recorded in English in 1810, in Charles James's ''Military Dictionary''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A particular strategy is from 1833,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and transferred, non-military use from 1837 in the OED^(OED 1989) or 1887 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The sense in [[game theory]] is from 1944.^(OED 1989) The adjective [[strategic]] is from 1825.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1688 – a Greek province.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1810 – the art of a general.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1825 – ''strategic''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1833 – a particular strategy.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1838 – ''strategist''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1944 – in game theory.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The science and art of planning and directing large-scale [[military]] operations.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term goal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The skill of making or carrying out such plans.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In [[game theory]], a set of rules for a player's moves.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[counterstrategy]]

+ * [[geostrategy]]

+ * [[strategic]]

+ * [[strategics]]

+ * [[strategist]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stratagem]]

+ * [[tactics]]

+ * [[strew]]

+ * [[agent]]

+ * [[stratum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Strategy is often confused with [[tactics]], which are the means of carrying out a plan;^(Cresswell 2021) [[stratagem]], from the same Greek root, has meant a trick or ploy since the mid-16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}