gerrymander
English
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
gerrymander¹
- /ˈd͡ʒɛɹiˌmændə/ UK
- /ˈɡɛɹi-/ UK, rare
- /ˈd͡ʒɛɹiˌmændəɹ/ US
- /ˈɡɛɹi-/ US, rare
- [-mɛən-] US
- /ˈd͡ʒeɹiˌmændə/ Australia
- /ˈɡeɹi-/ Australia, rare
- [-meːn-] Australia
Rhymes with -ɛɹimændə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
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.
verb gerrymanders · gerrymandering · gerrymandered · Gerry-mander · Gerrymander
- To divide a geographic area into voting districts in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election. THE GERRY-MANDER, OR ESSEX SOUTH DISTRICT FORMED INTO A MONSTER!
- To draw dividing lines for other types of districts in an unintuitive way to favor a particular group or for other perceived gain. The superintendent helped gerrymander the school district lines in order to keep the children of the wealthy gated community in the better school all the way across town.
- To change the franchise or voting system in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election. [The Reform Bill's] main purpose will be so to gerrymander the electorate as to give the greatest possible assistance to the Radical party at the next election.
- To deliberately bring in voters of one's own party or displace voters of another party from a voting district in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election. Westminster City Council has been accused by the District Auditor of using public money to gerrymander marginal wards for the 1990 Borough elections. The strategy of attempting to 'gentrify' eight key wards, selling off council homes and hostels for the homeless to move out potential Labour voters a
noun gerrymanders · Gerry-mander · Gerrymander
- The act of gerrymandering.
- A voting district skewed by gerrymandering. Any citizen looking at a map of district 12 could immediately tell that it was a gerrymander because of the ridiculous way it cut across four counties while carving up neighborhoods in half.
Gerrymander²
verb Gerrymanders · Gerrymandering · Gerrymandered
- Obsolete form of gerrymander The latter attempted (at June Session) to provide for the appointment of Madisonian Electors by the Legislature; they attempted also to Gerrymander the State for the choice of Representatives to Congress; […]
noun Gerrymanders
- Obsolete form of gerrymander The sensibility of the good people of Massachusetts is at present too much awakened to this ‘Gerrymander’ to require [etc.].
Translations
Every language
noun the act of gerrymandering
| Español | arreglo de distritos electorales |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 傑利蠑螈 /杰利蝾螈 Jiélì róngyuán |
| Português | manipulação eleitoral |
| Français | charcutage électoral |
| Deutsch | Gerrymandering, Wahlkreisschiebung, Neuzuschnitt |
| Русский | предвы́борные махина́ции predvýbornyje maxinácii |
Talk about this word "gerrymander." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gerrymander. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. gerrymander. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gerrymander "gerrymander." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gerrymander.Cite this
@misc{gerrymander_2026,
title = {gerrymander},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gerrymander},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
