malapportionment

noun

Any system where one group has significantly more influence than another, such as when voting districts are unevenly spread out across a population (compare gerrymandering).

OriginEnglish apportionment ← Old French mal- ← Latin male →
Scrabble 24
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Meanings

nounmalapportionment (countable and uncountable, plural malapportionments)

plural malapportionments

  1. countableuncountablegovernmentAny system where one group has significantly more influence than another, such as when voting districts are unevenly spread out across a population (compare gerrymandering).

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)mel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)molos?
  3. Proto-Italic*malos
  4. Latinmalus
  5. Latinmale
  6. Old Frenchmal-
  7. Englishmal-
  8. Englishapportion
  9. Englishapportionment
  10. Englishmalapportionment

From mal- + apportionment.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

malapportionment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malapportionment

MLA

“malapportionment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malapportionment. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malapportionment,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malapportionment.

Source: malapportionment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.