suffrage

 
Pronunciation: /ˈsʌfrɪdʒ/

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] the right to vote in political elections: universal adult suffrage [as modifier]: the women’s suffrage movement
  • [count noun] archaic a vote given in assent to a proposal or in favour of the election of a particular person: the suffrages of the community
  • 2 (usually suffrages) (in the Book of Common Prayer) the intercessory petitions pronounced by a priest in the Litany.
  • a series of petitions pronounced by the priest with the responses of the congregation.
  • archaic intercessory prayers, especially those for the dead.

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'intercessory prayers', also 'assistance'): from Latin suffragium, reinforced by French suffrage. The modern sense of 'right to vote' was originally US (dating from the late 18th century)

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