[Ads-l] Antedating of "Unconstitutional"

[Shapiro, Fred]

unconstitutional (OED 1734)

1733 _Bee: Or, Universal Weekly Pamphlet_ 7: 514 (Eighteenth Century Journals)

Lest all other Provisions should be in effectual [_sic_] to keep the Members of the House of Commons out of this _unconstitutional Dependency_.

NOTE:  This OED entry has not been revised since 1921.  When it is revised, I suggest a separate specific sense should be added, relating to United States courts exercising judicial review.  The citations in the current entry are entirely British.

Fred Shapiro

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org