politician
(pɒlɪˈtɪʃən)
Forms: 6 politicien, -itien, 7 -isian, -ition, poll-, 7– politician, (7–8 -itian).
[f. as politic + -ian. So F. politicien.]
† 1. A politic person; chiefly in a sinister sense, a shrewd schemer; a crafty plotter or intriguer. Obs.
| 1588 Sir W. Stanley Dr. Allen's Seditious Drifts 89 Some ouersights euen in pollicie, escaped this great politicien. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse A ij b, The Diuel..was..so famous a Politician in purchasing, that Hel, which at the beginning was but an obscure Village, is now become a huge citie. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 241, I am whipt and scourg'd with rods, Netled, and stung with Pismires, when I heare Of this vile Politician Bullingbrooke. 1613 Chapman Rev. B. D'Ambois i. i. Plays 1873 II. 119 This was a sleight well maskt. O what is man Vnlesse he be a Politician. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. ii, The squire..was, however, in many points, a perfect politician. 1764 Foote Patron iii. Wks. 1799 I. 352 Ah, Bever, Bever! you are a miserable politician. Do you know, now, that this is the luckiest incident that ever occurr'd? |
2. One versed in the theory or science of government and the art of governing; one skilled in politics; one practically engaged in conducting the business of the state; a statesman.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. iii. (Arb.) 23 Poets..were the first lawmakers to the people, and the first polititiens, deuising all expedient meanes for th'establishment of Common wealth. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. I.) 33 That felicity Politisians search after, as being the end of civil life. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Politician, one that under⁓stands the Art of Governing, or judges of it according to the Parts he has acquired. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. 96 Sir Edward Coke, and the politicians of that time, conceived great difficulties in carrying on the projected union. 1886 M. Arnold in Times 22 May 15/6 Lord Salisbury's bad and arbitrary temper (I mean, of course, as a politician,..) is as great a misfortune to the country as Lord Randolph Churchill's intriguing. |
b. One keenly interested in politics; one who engages in party politics, or in political strife, or who makes politics his profession or business; also (
esp. in
U.S.), in a sinister sense, one who lives by politics as a trade.
| 1628 Ford Lover's Mel. iv. ii, So politicians thrive, That with their crabbed faces, and sly tricks,..do wriggle in Their heads first, like a fox, to rooms of state. 1632 Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age Wks. 1874 IV. 364, I am a pollitician, oathes with me Are but the tooles I worke with, I may breake An oath by my profession. 1646 Buck Rich. III, i. 17 Lewis..was meerly a Politician, and studied only his owne ends. a 1732 Gay Fables ii. ix. 14 Politicians you suggest, Should drive the nail that goes the best. 1776 Adam Smith W. Nat. iv. ii. (1869) II. 41 That insidious and crafty animal, vulgarly called a statesman or politician, whose councils are directed by the momentary fluctuations of affairs. 1828 Macaulay Hallam Ess. (1887) 96 A politician, where factions run high, is interested not for the whole people, but for his own section of it. 1879 Sir G. Campbell White & Black 68 The word ‘politician’ is used in a bad sense in America, as applied to people who make politics a profession, and are skilled in the art of ‘wire pulling’ and such practices. |
† 3. = politique,
politic B.1 b.
Obs.| 1656 M. Casaubon Enthus. iii. 171 The use of this Theologie, doth most properly belong unto Jesuits,..and Jesuited Politicians, whether they call themselves Lutherans, or Calvinists, or otherwise. 1672 [H. Stubbe] Rosemary & Bayes 7 The Ecclesiastical Politition writ in England. 1681 Baxter Acc. Sherlocke iv. 189 Their minuter differences have made some called Lutherans,..some Independents, and some Politicians or Erastians. |
4. (See
quot.)
| 1868 Wood Homes without H. xiii. 247 The White-Eyed Flycatcher (Muscicapa cantrix)..uses so much newspaper in the construction of its home, that it has gone by the name of Politician. |
5. attrib.| 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 43 This is one of your politician subtleties, to make Angoulesme passe for a Frontier Towne. 1671 Milton Samson 1195 Your ill⁓meaning Politician Lords,..Appointed to await me thirty spies. 1885 A. Forbes Souvenirs Continents 247 A turbulent..sea of political or rather politician quasi-social life. |
Hence (
nonce-wds.)
poliˈticianess, a female politician;
poliˈticianism, practice characteristic of a politician;
poliˈticianize v. trans., to involve in party politics.
| 1887 Sat. Rev. 11 June 833/1 Mr. Lawson, and the other Radical politicians and *politicianesses who went out for to see what was to be seen at Bodyke. |
| 1843 R. Paul Let. 15 Aug. in Mem. xiii. (1872) 168 Lord Aberdeen has got his bill passed. It is a mere piece of *politicianism. |
| 1893 Resolution in Voice (N.Y.) 26 Oct., The corrupt ring that has bound this city hand and foot,..*politicianizing the public schools and perpetrating bold, gigantic robberies upon the taxpayers. |