/ˈsʌf.rɪdʒ/·noun·c. 1380 (as 'intercessory prayer'); 1530s (as 'a vote'); 1787 (as 'the right to vote')·Established
Origin
From Latin suffrāgium (a vote, voting tablet), possibly connected to frangere (to break) — entering English first as a prayer term before becoming the word for the right to vote that fueled one of history's great civil rights movements.
Definition
The right to vote in political elections; also, a vote given in assent to a proposal, or a prayer of intercession.
The Full Story
Latin14th century (English), from Classical Latinwell-attested
From Latin 'suffrāgium' (a vote, theright to vote, also a voting tablet or broken potsherd used as a ballot). The ultimate etymology is disputed. The traditional derivation connects it to 'sub-' (under) + 'frangere' (to break), from PIE *bʰreg- (to break) — the idea being that voters broke a potsherd to cast their ballot, or that the word refers to the crashing noise of acclamation. An alternative theory links the second
Did you know?
The word 'suffragette' was coined by the DailyMail in 1906 as a belittling diminutive — the '-ette' suffix implying something small or lesser. The women's suffrage activists were supposed to be insulted. Instead, Emmeline Pankhurst and the WSPU embraced the term as a badge of honor, and it stuck. The activists' ownpreferred term was 'suffragist', which applied
Mail as a dismissive diminutive — the activists themselves preferred 'suffragist'. Key roots: suffrāgium (Latin: "a vote, right to vote, voting tablet"), sub- (Latin: "under, from below"), *bʰreg- (Proto-Indo-European: "to break (disputed connection)").