The term gerrymandering is a portmanteau of a salamander and Elbridge Gerry, the 5th Vice President of the United States at the time of his death, who, as governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander.

The resulting district is known as a gerrymander #USPol

Ever since, the creation of such districts has been called gerrymandering