Stakeholder

Research

Anyone with an interest in a study or decision's outcome — stakeholder analysis maps groups by interest and influence.

Sources

1. Merriam-Webster — stakeholder merriam-webster.com accessed 23 September 2026

Merriam-Webster traces an unexpected path: originally “a person entrusted with the stakes of bettors”, first recorded 1708, then “one that has a stake in an enterprise”, and now “one who is involved in or affected by a course of action”. That third sense is the one research ethics and project work use, and it is much wider than the second — being affected is enough, with no financial interest required. Confusing the two is how consultations end up hearing only from investors.

Merriam-Webster is cited as the dictionary of record: where an entry defines a word rather than a position, a dictionary is the primary source for it. The research usage above is this lexicon’s own.

Deeper treatment: this term also has a full entry in the Business Library.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).