ballot

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈbælət/ UK /ˈbælət/ See IPA manual

Freq #14498

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of paper used to record a secret vote.

Voters marked their choice on the ballot and dropped it in the box.
2

noun
The process of voting, usually in secret.

The leader was chosen by a secret ballot of all members.
3

verb
To ask people to vote on something.

The union balloted its members on strike action.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a piece of paper used to... ballot papervoting slip

2 noun · the process of voting,... vote

Word family

Forms ballotedballotingballots

Derived forms ballotationballoterballotfulballotistballotlessdown-ballote-ballotpreballotreballot

Related forms blackballing

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

absentee ballot
a vote submitted by someone who cannot attend the polling place

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Ballot entered English in the mid-16th century from Italian ballotta, referring originally to the small ball used to record a vote. Ballotta ultimately derives from the same old Scandinavian root as ball.

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”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”).

balote Middle French *ballu frk *balluz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# ballot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈbælət/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbælət/
**Frequency rank:** 14498

## Meanings
1. A piece of paper used to record a secret vote.
2. The process of voting, usually in secret.
3. To ask people to vote on something.

## Examples
- Voters marked their choice on the ballot and dropped it in the box.
- The leader was chosen by a secret ballot of all members.
- The union balloted its members on strike action.

## Derived Forms
- ballotation
- balloter
- ballotful
- ballotist
- ballotless
- down-ballot
- e-ballot
- preballot
- reballot

## Related Forms
- blackballing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: balote
- Root: *ballu
- Root: *balluz

## 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”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”).

## AI Etymology
Ballot was 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”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”).

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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