1. A mechanical device used to mix a liquid contained in a vessel.
2. A device for maintaining plasticity and preventing segregation of mixed concrete by agitation.

Devil's Dictionary: agitator

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

A statesman who shakes the fruit trees of his neighbors -- to dislodge the worms.

Wikipedia: agitator

An agitator at a political demonstration in France.

Agitator is a term for a person that actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions.

English Agitators

In the English-speaking world, the term first referred to men who were elected to present complaints of army soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known as adjutators.

The practice begun in 1647 when the Long Parliament wanted to either disband the armies or send them to Ireland. Soldiers did not appreciate that and eight of the cavalry regiments elected representatives they called commissioners, who presented the soldiers' complaints, including the fact that their payments were eight weeks late. In April 3 1647 their letter was read in the House of Commons.

Other units followed suit and foot soldiers elected agitators who presented the declaration of the army. Officers supported them and co-signed their declaration. Cromwell and others promised payment.

Before the generals could return to London, parliament again decided to disband the army and settled June 1 as the date that would happen. Agitators resisted, soldiers of one regiment mutinied and refused to disband. In a conference on Thriplow Heath agitators demanded that the troops would march to London and "purge" the House of Commons.

Later Levellers adopted many of the Agitator's ideas.

Negative sense

The term was first used in negative sense about those who supported Irish Home rule and eventual independence, especially Daniel O'Connell.^{[citation needed]}

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911 Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Agitator". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

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agitator

English Agitators

Negative sense

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