MICHELE NORRIS, host: The word `filibuster' comes from piracy.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: The term first appeared in the English language in 1591, according to the      Oxford English Dictionary.  The word was then `flee-booters.'  Its      origins are probably Dutch, with some Spanish and French influences.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: In the 17th century, flee-booters raided the Spanish colonies in      the Caribbean and earned a bad reputation.  They were also called      buccaneers and freebooters.  The stuff these flee-booters stole was      called booty.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: Eventually an extra syllable wormed its way into the word, and      flee-booters became filibusters.  It also took on political meaning in      the 1850s.  Filibusters were people from the United States who traveled      to Central America and the Spanish West Indies in order to illegally      encourage revolutions.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: The Oxford English Dictionary says the first time a legislator      was called a filibuster to accuse him of being an obstructionist was in      1889.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: And the next year, 1890, was the first usage of the word      `filibuster' to mean the tactic of talking for a long time to obstruct      Senate business. Filibustering senators were, by extension, pirates      raiding the Congress for their own political gain.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: You can explore more of the debate and read experts' opinions on      judicial filibusters in our Taking Issue feature at npr.org.
The word filibuster goes back to a Dutch word for "freebooter," someone who took booty or loot. It came to mean a legislator who was "pirating" parliamentary proceedings.