Suffrage

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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 for an office or trust; the formal
        expression of an opinion; assent; vote.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              I ask your voices and your suffrages. --Shak.
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     2. Testimony; attestation; witness; approval.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Lactantius and St. Austin confirm by their suffrage
              the observation made by heathen writers.
                                                    --Atterbury.
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              Every miracle is the suffrage of Heaven to the truth
              of a doctrine.                        --South.
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     3. (Eccl.)
        (a) A short petition, as those after the creed in matins
            and evensong.
        (b) A prayer in general, as one offered for the faithful
            departed. --Shipley.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  I firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and
                  that the souls therein detained are helped by
                  the suffrages of the faithful.    --Creed of
                                                    Pope Pius IV.
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     4. Aid; assistance. [A Latinism] [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. The right to vote; franchise.
        [PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Suffrage \Suf"frage\, v. t.
     To vote for; to elect. [Obs.] --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  suffrage
       n : a legal right guaranteed by the 15th amendment to the US
           constitution; guaranteed to women by the 19th amendment;
           "American women got the vote in 1920" [syn: {right to
           vote}, {vote}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  83 Moby Thesaurus words for "suffrage":
     Australian ballot, Hare system, association, aye, ballot, canvass,
     canvassing, casting vote, choice, cochairmanship, complicity,
     condominium, contribution, copartnership, copartnery, cotenancy,
     counting heads, cumulative voting, deciding vote, division,
     enfranchisement, engagement, fagot vote, female suffrage,
     franchise, graveyard vote, hand vote, having a part,
     household franchise, involvement, joint chairmanship,
     joint control, joint ownership, joint tenancy, list system,
     manhood suffrage, nay, no, nontransferable vote, option, partaking,
     participation, partnership, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plumper,
     plural vote, poll, polling, preferential voting,
     proportional representation, proxy, record vote, referendum,
     representation, right to vote, rising vote, say, secret ballot,
     sharing, show of hands, single vote, snap vote, straw vote,
     suffragette, suffragettism, suffragism, suffragist, the vote,
     transferable vote, universal suffrage, viva voce, voice,
     voice vote, vote, voting, voting right, woman-suffragist, write-in,
     write-in vote, yea, yeas and nays, yes
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  SUFFRAGE, government. Vote; the act of voting. 
       2. The right of suffrage is given by the constitution of the United 
  States, art. 1, s. 2, to the electors in each state, as shall have the 
  qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
  state legislature. Vide 2 Story on the Const. Sec. 578, et seq.; Amer. 
  Citiz. 201; 1 Bl. Com. 171; 2 Wils. Lect. 130; Montesq. Esp. des Lois, Ii v. 
  11, c. 6; 1 Tucker's Bl. Com. App. 52, 3. See Division of opinion. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  SUFFRAGE, n.  Expression of opinion by means of a ballot.  The right
  of suffrage (which is held to be both a privilege and a duty) means,
  as commonly interpreted, the right to vote for the man of another
  man's choice, and is highly prized.  Refusal to do so has the bad name
  of "incivism."  The incivilian, however, cannot be properly arraigned
  for his crime, for there is no legitimate accuser.  If the accuser is
  himself guilty he has no standing in the court of opinion; if not, he
  profits by the crime, for A's abstention from voting gives greater
  weight to the vote of B.  By female suffrage is meant the right of a
  woman to vote as some man tells her to.  It is based on female
  responsibility, which is somewhat limited.  The woman most eager to
  jump out of her petticoat to assert her rights is first to jump back
  into it when threatened with a switching for misusing them.