ballot

English Online Dictionary. What means ballot‎? What does ballot mean?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian balota (obsolete), ballotta (“small ball, especially one used to register a vote”), from balla (“bale, bundle”) + -otta (suffix forming diminutive nouns); or from Middle French balote (obsolete), ballotte (“small ball used to register a vote”) (also compare Middle French balotiage, French ballottage (“second ballot, runoff”)); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *ballu (“ball”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbælət/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbælət/
• Hyphenation: bal‧lot
• Rhymes: -ælət

Noun

ballot (plural ballots)

1. Originally, a small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.
2. The process of voting, especially in secret; a round of voting.
   • July 1836, A. B. (initials of author), London and Westminster Review Article XI, Bribery and Intimidation at Elections

     the insufficiency of the ballot
3. The total of all the votes cast in an election.
4. (chiefly US) A list of candidates running for office; a ticket.

Synonyms

• (paper or card used to cast a vote): ballot paper, voting slip

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

ballot (third-person singular simple present ballots, present participle balloting, simple past and past participle balloted)

1. (intransitive) To vote or decide by ballot.

2. (intransitive) To draw lots.
3. (transitive) To invite to vote on a proposal.

Derived terms

• reballot

Translations

See also

• blackballing (also derived from the old practice of using balls to vote)

Further reading

• ballot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

From balle +‎ -ot.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.lo/
• Rhymes: -o

Noun

ballot m (plural ballots)

1. bundle, package
2. (informal, derogatory) fool, nitwit

Derived terms

• C’est ballot

Further reading

• “ballot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpalloh(t)/

Verb

ballot

1. first-person plural imperative of ballat