referendum C1 Topic:Law & Government US /ˌɹɛfəˈɹɛndəm/ See IPA manual Freq #22575 Meanings 1 noun A direct vote by the public on a single political question or proposed law. The country held a referendum on whether to join the union. 2 noun An event widely seen as a judgement on someone or something else. The election became a referendum on the government's economic policy. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a direct vote by the public... plebiscite Word family Forms referendareferendums Derived forms antireferendumneverendumpreferendumproreferendumpseudoreferendum Etymology AI details From Latin referendum (“that which ought to be announced”), from refero (“to announce”). referendus Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Law & Government Politics & International Affairs External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # referendum **Type:** Word **Level:** C1 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˌɹɛfəˈɹɛndəm/ **Frequency rank:** 22575 ## Meanings 1. A direct vote by the public on a single political question or proposed law. 2. An event widely seen as a judgement on someone or something else. ## Examples - The country held a referendum on whether to join the union. - The election became a referendum on the government's economic policy. ## Derived Forms - antireferendum - neverendum - preferendum - proreferendum - pseudoreferendum ## Roots and Affixes - Root: referendus ## Etymology From Latin referendum (“that which ought to be announced”), from refero (“to announce”). ## AI Etymology Referendum comes from Latin referendum (“that which ought to be announced”), from refero (“to announce”). The historical chain includes referendus (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as antireferendum, neverendum, preferendum, and proreferendum. In present use it covers a direct vote by the public on a single political question or proposed law and an event widely seen as a judgement on someone or something else. ## Topics - Law & Government - Politics & International Affairs markdown