# expedient
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens (stem expedient-), present participle of expedire (“to bring forward, to dispatch, to expedite; impers. to be profitable, serviceable, advantageous, expedient”), from ex (“out”) + pēs (“foot, hoof”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɪkˈspiːdi.ənt/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Adjective

expedient (comparative more expedient, superlative most expedient)
* Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
    Most people, faced with a decision, will choose the most expedient option.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 16:7:Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter willnot come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
** a. 1863, Richard Whately, Thoughts and Apophthegms:Nothing but the right can ever be the expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less.
* Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
** 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 389:[T]he judges were unanimously of opinion that [...] by the common law of England, no man, not authorised by the crown, had a right to publish political news. While the Whig party was still formidable, the government thought it expedient occasionally to connive at the violation of this rule.
** 2009, CQ Weekly‎, volume 67, numbers 31-36, page 2190:That's because the debate pits textbook economics — which argues that bailouts beget bad behavior begets more bailouts — against practical politics. And politics, or the taking of expedient steps to keep people happy, will almost always win.
** 2011, L. Fletcher Prouty, Jesse Ventura, The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World‎:Government has slowly but positively moved from an active course of following plans and policies to the easier and more expedient course of the counterpuncher.
** 2013, Douglas B. Klusmeyer, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Immigration Policy in the Federal Republic of Germany‎:Its policies toward foreign lab or across these eras reflect these sharp differences in context, but also reflect a common pattern to treat the recruitment and deployment of foreign nationals as an expedient measure to serve immediate economic objectives
* Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
** 1861, John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism:But the Expedient, in the sense in which it is opposed to the Right, generally means that which is expedient for the particular interest of the agent himself; as when a minister sacrifices the interests of his country to keep himself in place.
* (obsolete) Expeditious, quick, rapid.
** c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], lines 57–61:the adverse winds / Whose leisure I have stay'd, have given him time / To land his legions all as soon as I; / His marches are expedient to this town / His forces strong, his soldiers confident.

#### Synonyms

* advisable, desirable, judicious, politic, prudent, tactical, wise

#### Derived terms

* expediently
* inexpedient
* unexpedient

#### Related terms

* expede
* expedience
* expediency
* expedite
* expedition

#### Translations
### Noun

expedient (plural expedients)
* A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
** 1791 December 5, Alexander Hamilton, “Alexander Hamilton’s Final Version of the Report on the Subject of Manufactures”, in edited by Harold C. Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton‎, volume 10, New York: Columbia University Press, published 1966, →LCCN, →OCLC:To secure such a market, there is no other expedient, than to promote manufacturing establishments.
** 1906, O. Henry, The Green Door:He would never let her know that he was aware of the strange expedient to which she had been driven by her great distress.
** 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 709:Depressingly, [...] the expedient of importing African slaves was in part meant to protect the native American population from exploitation.

#### Translations
### Further reading

* “expedient”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “expedient”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “expedient”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “expedient”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin expedientem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [əks.pə.ðiˈen]
* IPA: (Balearic) [əks.pə.ðiˈent]
* IPA: (Valencia) [eks.pe.ðiˈent]

### Adjective

expedient m or f (masculine and feminine plural expedients)
* expedient, convenient

### Noun

expedient m (plural expedients)
* file, record, dossier

#### Derived terms

* expedientar

### Further reading

* “expedient” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Latin
### Verb

expedient
* third-person plural future active indicative of expediō

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French expédient.

### Noun

expedient n (plural expediente)
* expedient