English

Noun

suffrage ‎(usually uncountable, plural suffrages)

1. (uncountable) The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision.
2. (countable) A vote in deciding a particular question.
   • 1833, Henry Clay, Thomas Hart Benton, editor, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, published 1859, page 213:

     But the President himself says that " upon him has been devolved, by the constitution, and the suffrages of the American people, the duty of superintending the operation of the executive departments of the Government,

   • 1822, Edward Wynne, William Meechan Bythewood, Eunomus: or, Dialogues concerning the law and constitution of England, volume 2, page 369:

     Hence, by rendering the suffrages secret in the Roman republic, all was lost; it was no longer possible to direct a populace that sought its own destruction

3. The right to vote for elected officials in a representative democracy.

   universal suffrage, women's suffrage, negro suffrage

4. (US) The right of women to vote.
5. (countable, Christianity) A prayer, for example a prayer offered for the faithful dead.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Shipley to this entry?)
   • (Can we date this quote?) Creed of Pope Pius IV

     I firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.

   • 1969, G. J. Cuming, A history of Anglican liturgy:

     As these holy prayers and suffrages following are set forth of most godly zeal for edifying and stirring of devotion of all true faithful Christian hearts […]

   • 2006, John E. Curran, Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency: Not to Be, page 86:

     In explaining and defending suffrages for the dead, Catholic argument repeatedly involved the assumption of the importance of time.

6. (countable, Christianity) A short petition, as those after the creed in matins and evensong.
   • 1904, John Newton McCormick, The litany and the life: a series of studies in the litany ..., page 222:

     Lastly, in this suffrage, we intercede for prisoners and captives; we "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them."

7. (uncountable) Aid, intercession.
8. Testimony; attestation; witness; approval.
   • Atterbury

     Lactantius and St. Austin confirm by their suffrage the observation made by heathen writers.

   • South

     Every miracle is the suffrage of Heaven to the truth of a doctrine.

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:suffrage.

Synonyms

• (right to vote): franchise

Translations

Related terms

• suffragist
• suffragette
• universal suffrage

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin suffragium ‎(“support, vote, right of voting”).

Noun

suffrage m ‎(plural suffrages)

1. suffrage (right to vote)
2. suffrage (prayer)