gerrymander

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an act of gerrymandering (dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an unfair advantage)
  2. verb divide unfairly and to one's advantage; of voting districts

Etymology

Blend of Gerry + salamander, named after Elbridge Gerry, then governor of Massachusetts. Coined by the editors of the Boston Gazette in an 26 March 1812 article comparing the new electoral district boundary signed into law by Gerry to the shape of the mythological salamander. The original text was likely written by Nathan Hale and Benjamin and John Russell, accompanying a cartoon by Elkanah Tisdale. Despite Gerry's surname beginning with a hard G (/ɡ/), gerrymander is typically pronounced with a soft G (/dʒ/), as a spelling pronunciation.

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