bipartisan
adjective
-sən
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Bipartisan is a two-part word. The first element is the prefix bi-, which means "two"; the second is partisan, a word that traces through Middle French and north Italian dialect to the Latin part- or pars, meaning "part." Partisan itself has a long history as a word in English. It has been used as a noun in reference to a firm adherent to a party, faction, or cause (especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance), since the 16th century. The related adjective (meaning "of, relating to, or characteristic of a partisan") appeared in the 19th century, as did, after a space of some 50 years, the adjective bipartisan.
Examples of bipartisan in a Sentence
Sean Wilentz, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2009
Seasoned observers of Washington tend to dismiss such talk of national unity and bipartisan cooperation as meaningless political boilerplate …
—Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, 7 May 2007
Two recent national bipartisan blue-ribbon panels, the National Research Council Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children and the National Reading Panel, came to converging conclusions.
—Bennet A. Shawitz, New Republic, 6 Nov. 2000
The bill has bipartisan support.
Charles Lloyd Bovaird Ii, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Many of the bills set for committee this week — there are roughly a dozen — are either bipartisan or on the less-controversial side.
—Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 26 Jan. 2026
Under the bipartisan health spending bill, the agency's funding would remain roughly unchanged.
—Sam Gringlas, NPR, 26 Jan. 2026
The purchasing rule changes would reverse nearly two decades of bipartisan consensus that limits should be imposed after the government bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008-09.
—Boston Herald Wire Services, Boston Herald, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bipartisan
Cite this Entry
“Bipartisan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bipartisan. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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bipartisan
adjective
