filibuster

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a prolonged speech used to obstruct a legislative vote

   The senator launched a filibuster to delay the bill.

Simplified etymology

Filibuster originally denoted a pirate or privateer and passed through Spanish and French from Dutch vrijbuiter, formed from vrij “free” and buit “booty.” In the 19th century, Spanish filibustero was applied to American adventurers who stirred up revolutions in Central and South America. In the United States, filibuster then described behaviour in congressional debates intended to sabotage proceedings, and later a very long parliamentary speech intended to prevent a law from passing, or the making of such a speech.

From Spanish filibustero ('freebooter, pirate'), from French flibustier, ultimately from Dutch vrijbuiter ('freebooter'), from vrij ('free') + buit ('booty'); the legislative sense arose in nineteenth-century America.

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External links

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