1647, from agitation (q.v.), originally "elected representatives of the common soldiers in Cromwell's army," who brought grievances (chiefly over lack of pay) to their officers and Parliament. Political sense is first recorded 1734, and negative overtones began with its association with Irish patriots such as Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847). In Amer.Eng., usually with outside and referring to people who stir up a supposedly contented class or race.

a person who tries constantly to stir up public feeling
Example: a political agitator

Arabic: مُهَيِّج، مُثِير لِلفِتَن Chinese (Simplified): 鼓动者 Chinese (Traditional): 鼓動者 Czech: agitátor Danish: agitator; urostifter Dutch: agitator Estonian: agitaator Finnish: agitaattori French: agitateur, *-trice German: der, *die Agitator(in), Propagandist Greek: ταραχοποιός Hungarian: agitátor Icelandic: áróðursmaður Indonesian: penghasut Italian: agitatore, agitatrice	Japanese: 扇動者 Korean: 선동자 Latvian: aģitators Lithuanian: agitatorius Norwegian: agitator, oppvigler Polish: agitator Portuguese (Brazil): agitador Portuguese (Portugal): agitador Romanian: agi­­tator Russian: агитатор Slovak: agitátor, -ka Slovenian: agitator Spanish: agitador Swedish: agitator, uppviglare Turkish: kışkırtıcı, tahrikçi