[Ads-l] filibuster (1846 etc.)

[James Landau]

On  Sat, 26 Sep 2020 12:57:21 Zone-0400  Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote

<quote>
OED2's entry for "filibuster" has early versions of the word related to
Dutch "vrijbuiter" and the French form "flibustier." The entry suggests
that the spelling "filibuster," based on Spanish "filibustero," first came
into English usage to denote (as per sense 2b) "a member of any of those
bands of adventurers who between 1850 and 1860 organized expeditions from
the United States, in violation of international law, for the purpose of
revolutionizing certain states in Central America and the Spanish West
Indies."
<end quote>
Filibusters, although they may not have acquired that name yet, antedate 1850, e.g. William Walker who invaded and gained control of Nicaragua in1846.
Interesting usage: "revolutionizing".  A better word would be "conquering" as the usual motive for filibusters was to permanently retain the Central American/West Indies territories and bring them into the United States as new slave states.

James Landau
jjjrlandau at netscape.com

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