reapportionment
noun
re·ap·por·tion·ment
ˌrē-ə-ˈpȯr-shən-mənt 
plural reapportionments
: an act or result of reapportioning something : the process or result of making a new proportionate division or distribution of something
especially, US law
: the reassignment of representatives proportionally among the states in accordance with changes in population distribution
As one might expect, the legislative majority did not care to realign districts to represent the current distribution of the population, because reapportionment would endanger some of their seats. —
Robert H. Bork
Robert H. Bork During the Warren Court period the federal courts revolutionized criminal procedure law, created modern antidiscrimination law, recaptured the First Amendment from the shambles of McCarthyism, and restructured American politics through reapportionment. —Elizabeth Mensch
Elizabeth Mensch Bipartisan gerrymandering following the 2000 reapportionment produced hundreds of safe Democratic seats, hundreds of safe Republican seats, and not much else. —Peter Beinart
Peter Beinart Examples of reapportionment in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In West Virginia, two House Republican incumbents are competing because the state lost a seat in reapportionment.
—John McCormick, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2022
In some cases that could theoretically increase the number of congresspeople those states can send to the House of Representatives in Washington, although such reapportionment only occurs once a decade.
—David Hamilton, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024
Twenty of the uncalled House races are held by Democrats, 10 are held by Republicans, and three are brand new seats due to reapportionment.
—Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2022
That should be good news for Republicans the next time there is a reapportionment.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 22 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for reapportionment 
John McCormick, WSJ, 30 Apr. 2022
In some cases that could theoretically increase the number of congresspeople those states can send to the House of Representatives in Washington, although such reapportionment only occurs once a decade.
—David Hamilton, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024
Twenty of the uncalled House races are held by Democrats, 10 are held by Republicans, and three are brand new seats due to reapportionment.
—Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2022
That should be good news for Republicans the next time there is a reapportionment.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 22 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for reapportionment
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reapportionment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Reapportionment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reapportionment. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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