suffrage
- suffrage
suffrage n Suffrage, franchise, vote, ballot mean the right, privilege, or power of expressing one's choice or wish (as in an election or in the determination of policy).
Suffrage is the usual term when the emphasis is upon the extent to which this privilege or power is enjoyed in a state or community or upon the kinds of citizens in a representative government who legally exercise this power; the word is frequently modified by a term indicating such extent or restriction
{
the long-fought battle that brought about woman suffrage
}
{
household suffrage, or the restriction of the right to vote to male householders, existed in Great Britain from 1867 to 1918
}
Franchise may be chosen when the privilege or power is thought of as conferred by the government or as a statutory or legal right
{
the franchise was long withheld from British citizens who were not householders
}
{
yet some people hesitate to give women the franchisel actually, a miserable privilege which any poor fool of a man may exercise— Jefferies
}
Vote is appropriate when the stress is on the power of each of the individuals on whom the franchise has been conferred to express his choice or opinion in the approved way, thereby aiding in the task of determining the will of the people
{
to have the vote and not to exercise it is to show oneself unworthy of one's citizenship
}
{
a class that has not the vote lacks the power to assert its rights
}
{
every American citizen has a like vote in choosing those who will make the laws
}
Ballot, which specifically implies some method of secret voting, is likely to be used when the emphasis is on the power to vote freely, effectively, and without coercion, on the expressed will of the majority, or on the ethical use of the vote
{
the ballot is the citizens' means of getting the kind of government they want
}
{
among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and . . . they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost— Lincoln
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms.
2014.
:
Look at other dictionaries:
suffrage — Suffrage … Thresor de la langue françoyse
suffrage — [ syfraʒ ] n. m. • 1355; suffrages d oraison « prières » 1289; lat. suffragium « tesson avec lequel on votait », de frangere « briser » 1 ♦ Acte par lequel on déclare sa volonté, son opinion (favorable), dans un choix, une délibération, une… … Encyclopédie Universelle
Suffrage — (from the Latin suffragium , meaning voting tablet , and figuratively right to vote ; probably from suffrago hough , and originally a term for the pastern bone used to cast votes) is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that … Wikipedia
suffrage — suf·frage / sə frij/ n [Latin suffragium vote, political support, from suffragari to support with one s vote] 1: a vote in deciding a controverted question or the choice of a person for an office or trust no State...shall be deprived of its equal … Law dictionary
Suffrage — Suf frage, n. [F., fr. L. suffragium; perhaps originally, a broken piece, a potsherd, used in voting, and fr. sub under + the root of frangere to break. See {Break}.] 1. A vote given in deciding a controverted question, or in the choice of a man… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
suffrage — Suffrage. s. m. Declaration qu on fait de son sentiment, de sa volonté, & qu on donne, soit de vive voix, soit par escrit ou autrement, dans l occasion d une eslection, d une deliberation. Je luy ay donné mon suffrage. il a eu tous les suffrages … Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
suffrage — late 14c., prayers or pleas on behalf of another, from O.Fr. suffrage (13c.), from M.L. suffragium, from L. suffragium support, vote, right of voting, from suffragari lend support, vote for someone, from sub under (see SUB (Cf. sub )) + fragor… … Etymology dictionary
suffrage — [suf′rij] n. [ME < MFr < ML(Ec) < L suffragium, decision, vote, suffrage < sub (see SUB ) + fragor, loud applause, orig., din, a crashing < IE base * bhreĝ , to crash, BREAK] 1. a prayer or act of intercession or supplication 2. a… … English World dictionary
Suffrage — Suf frage, v. t. To vote for; to elect. [Obs.] Milton. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
suffrage — ► NOUN ▪ the right to vote in political elections. ORIGIN originally in the sense «intercessory prayers», also «assistance»: from Latin suffragium … English terms dictionary
