gerrymander definition | Dictionary.com

ger⋅ry⋅man⋅der

[jer-i-man-der, ger-]

–noun

1.	U.S. Politics. the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.

–verb (used with object)

2.	U.S. Politics. to subject (a state, county, etc.) to a gerrymander.

Origin:
1812, Americanism; after E. Gerry (governor of Massachusetts, whose party redistricted the state in 1812) + (sala)mander, from the fancied resemblance of the map of Essex County, Mass., to this animal, after the redistricting

Related forms:

ger⋅ry⋅man⋅der⋅er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To gerrymander

ger·ry·man·der (jěr'ē-mān'dər, gěr'-)

tr.v. ger·ry·man·dered, ger·ry·man·der·ing, ger·ry·man·ders
To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.
n.

The act, process, or an instance of gerrymandering.
A district or configuration of districts differing widely in size or population because of gerrymandering.

[After Elbridge Gerry + (sala)mander (from the shape of an election district created while Gerry was governor of Massachusetts).]

Word History: "An official statement of the returns of voters for senators give[s] twenty nine friends of peace, and eleven gerrymanders." So reported the May 12, 1813, edition of the Massachusetts Spy. A gerrymander sounds like a strange political beast, which it is, considered from a historical perspective. This beast was named by combining the word salamander, "a small lizardlike amphibian," with the last name of Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of Massachusetts—a state noted for its varied, often colorful political fauna. Gerry (whose name, incidentally, was pronounced with a hard g, though gerrymander is now commonly pronounced with a soft g) was immortalized in this word because an election district created by members of his party in 1812 looked like a salamander. According to one version of gerrymander's coining, the shape of the district attracted the eye of the painter Gilbert Stuart, who noticed it on a map in a newspaper editor's office. Stuart decorated the outline of the district with a head, wings, and claws and then said to the editor, "That will do for a salamander!" "Gerrymander!" came the reply. The word is first recorded in April 1812 in reference to the creature or its caricature, but it soon came to mean not only "the action of shaping a district to gain political advantage" but also "any representative elected from such a district by that method." Within the same year gerrymander was also recorded as a verb.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gerrymander

Ger`ry*man"der\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gerrymandered; p. pr. & vb. n. Gerrymandering.] To divide (a State) into districts for the choice of representatives, in an unnatural and unfair way, with a view to give a political party an advantage over its opponent. [Political Cant, U. S.]

Note: This was done in Massachusetts at a time when Elbridge Gerry was governor, and was attributed to his influence, hence the name; though it is now known that he was opposed to the measure. --Bartlett.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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gerrymander [(jer-ee-man-duhr)]

To change the boundaries of legislative districts to favor one party over another. Typically, the dominant party in a state legislature (which is responsible for drawing the boundaries of congressional districts) will try to concentrate the opposing party's strength in as few districts as possible, while giving itself likely majorities in as many districts as possible.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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gerrymander

1812, Amer.Eng., from Elbridge Gerry + (sala)mander. Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it Gerrymander.

Main Entry: ger·ry·man·der
Pronunciation: 'jer-E-"man-d&r also and originally 'ger-E-
Function: noun
Etymology: Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814) + salamander; from the shape of an election district formed during Gerry's governorship of Massachusetts
1 : the act or method of gerrymandering
2 : a district or pattern of districts varying greatly in size or population as a result of gerrymandering

Main Entry: gerrymander
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -dered; -der·ing
1 : to divide (a territorial unit) into election districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possible
2 : to divide (an area) into political units to give special advantages to one group <gerrymander a school district>

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