New Deal

proper noun

A series of domestic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938 in response to the Great Depression, focusing on relief, recovery, and reform.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A series of domestic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938 in response to the Great Depression, focusing on relief, recovery, and reform.

    The right rallying call is for a “Green New Deal.” The New Deal was not built on a magic bullet, but on a broad range of programs and industrial projects to revitalize America. Ditto for an energy New Deal.

    2007 January 19, Thomas L. Friedman, “A Warning From the Garden”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Jul 2019

Origin

Deal refers to the distribution of cards in a card game. A new deal results in a new deck, thus a new (supposedly) fair distribution of chances, i.e. figuratively (in the original use) new opportunities in life for everyone.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 羅斯福新政 /罗斯福新政
  • 羅斯福新政 /罗斯福新政 (Luósīfú Xīnzhèng)series of domestic programs
Finnish New Deal
  • New Dealseries of domestic programs
Polish Nowy Ład
  • Nowy Ładseries of domestic programs
Portuguese New Deal
  • New Dealseries of domestic programs
Cite this entry
APA

New Deal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Deal

MLA

“New Deal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Deal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “New Deal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20Deal.

Source: New Deal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.