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.
Meaning & usage
To divide a geographic area into voting districts in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.
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.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeys- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰoysós Proto-Germanic *gaizaz Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥h₁-t- Proto-Germanic *wulþǭder.? Proto-Indo-European *welH-der. Proto-Indo-European *wélH-dʰe-tider. Proto-Indo-European *we-wólH-dʰe-ti? Proto-Germanic *waldanąder. Proto-Germanic *waldaz Proto-Germanic *Gaizawaldaz Frankish *Gaiʀawaldbor. Old French Geraldbor. English Gerald ▲ Proto-Germanic *gaizaz Proto-West Germanic *gaiʀ Proto-Indo-European *kret-der.? Proto-Germanic *harduz Proto-Indo-European *-yos Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Germanic *-jaz Proto-West Germanic *-ī Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī) Frankish *Gaiʀahardbor. Old French Gerartder. Middle English Gerard English Gerard Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English Gerry Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra)bor. Latin salamandra Anglo-Norman salamandrebor. Middle English salamandre English salamander blend English gerrymander 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.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeys- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰoysós Proto-Germanic *gaizaz Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥h₁-t- Proto-Germanic *wulþǭder.? Proto-Indo-European *welH-der. Proto-Indo-European *wélH-dʰe-tider. Proto-Indo-European *we-wólH-dʰe-ti? Proto-Germanic *waldanąder. Proto-Germanic *waldaz Proto-Germanic *Gaizawaldaz Frankish *Gaiʀawaldbor. Old French Geraldbor. English Gerald ▲ Proto-Germanic *gaizaz Proto-West Germanic *gaiʀ Proto-Indo-European *kret-der.? Proto-Germanic *harduz Proto-Indo-European *-yos Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Germanic *-jaz Proto-West Germanic *-ī Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī) Frankish *Gaiʀahardbor. Old French Gerartder. Middle English Gerard English Gerard Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English Gerry Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra)bor. Latin salamandra Anglo-Norman salamandrebor. Middle English salamandre English salamander blend English gerrymander 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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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.