Filibusterers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals engaging in prolonged speech or debate to obstruct legislation
2. those who utilize tactics that delay or hinder the decision-making process in a legislative assembly
3. persons who employ various methods to impede legislative progress, often through extended discourse or procedural maneuvers

Etymology: This is an inflected form, so it gets a short treatment: "filibusterers" is simply the plural of "filibusterer," which is "filibuster" with the agent suffix "-er" attached. The suffix comes through Middle English from Old French "-ier" and ultimately from the Latin "-arius," a common marker of a person connected with a thing. The base word "filibuster" carries the more colourful history, since it was borrowed from Dutch "vrijbuiter," meaning "freebooter" or pirate, a person who takes what he likes without regard for rules, and the parliamentary sense grew out of that idea of a free-roaming raider.