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premiership

premiership

1 6.6
A period when a person serves as prime minister
  • noun
  • /ˈprɛmɪərʃɪp/
  • UK
translation icon : premierato
  • His premiership was marked by significant economic reforms that changed the nation's future.

Olmert was leaving the premiership, He was already accused of corruption.

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Examples

  • As promised during his election campaign, Mossadeq took steps to nationalize the country's oil industry soon after being popularly elected to premiership in 1951.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The military's initial desire to improve Turkey's relations with its Middle Eastern neighbors for security reasons coincided with the willingness of the new coalition government under the premiership of Bulent Ecevit to have better political relations.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Your Premiership, what if the Queen finds out?

  • Erdogan has announced that he will keep his word to leave the premiership in 2015.

    Blog text (3)
  • It is also right to remember that she spent her whole premiership, and indeed much of her life, under direct personal threat from the IRA.

  • But even a low ceiling, in the current Israeli political landscape, might be high enough for Lieberman to claim the premiership.

    Academic text (2011)
  • He may not need to expand his party's vote share all that much in order to take the premiership.

    Academic text (2011)
  • As political challenges grew and as the economic situation continued to deteriorate, the Tunisian government started a process of political liberalization in the early 1980s (under the Premiership of M'zali).

    Academic text (1992)
  • They gained steam under the military regime that ruled from 1980 to 1983 and then reached a particularly fast pace during Turgut Ozal's premiership and presidency during the rest of the 1980s.

    Academic text (2000)
  • During her premiership, many important policies were implemented to improve healthcare.

How Long

long-time
108 3.2
premiership
  • UK
1 6.6
short-term
225 3.3
caretaker
  • Formal
25 3.7

Surface Forms

premiership singular
premierships plural

Morphology

premiership = premier (semi-transparent) = premier + ship

While the formation is clear ('premier' + '-ship'), the specific institutional meaning of 'premiership' as a period of office is somewhat specialized.

Etymology

Premiership comes from premier meaning 'first' and the ending -ship meaning the state or office of someone, like leadership. So, premiership is the time someone holds the office of the 'first' minister.