statesman (2009-08-03)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: ['steyts-mên]

Definition: A wise, articulate, essentially non-partisan leader in the conduct of government or public affairs.

Usage: We think the term could be used to distinguish between genuine leaders in public affairs and those skilled mostly in the electoral process (politicians). "Charlie is a consummate politician but not much of statesman" would mean that Charlie is better at getting himself elected to office than running the office he is elected to.

Suggested Usage: "Madeline Albright is one of the outstanding statesmen of our time" is proper and politically correct English so long as "man" is pronounced [mên] and is unaccented (see 'Etymology').

Etymology: A derivation from "state" + the suffix -man [mên]—not the word "man" [mæn]. Although the suffix historically developed from this word, the suffix is never accented and its plural is pronounced identical with the singular [mên]. "Postman" ['post-mên] is hence gender neutral while "mailman" [meyl-mæn], oddly enough, is not. "Mailman" allows "mailwoman" because it is a compound of "mail" + (the word) "man." YourDictionary thus agrees with the Oxford English Dictionary, Random House, and Merriam-Webster that this word applies to both sexes and disagrees with the claim of the American Heritage and Macquarie Dictionaries that it is a compound based on the word "man" that refers only to men.