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When people voted in ancient Athens, they dropped pebbles into an urn. Similarly, when voting was done by the people of Venice during the Renaissance, secrecy was assured by the use of little colored or marked balls. The Italian word for “little ball” is ballotta, from balla, meaning “ball,” and the diminutive suffix –otta. Now any kind of secret voting, by ball, piece of paper, or voting machine, is called a ballot. So is the right to vote itself.
Synonyms
Examples of ballot in a Sentence
Ella McCarthy, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Each week, these ballots are posted at 7 a.m. on Mondays.
—Caroline Ritzie, The Enquirer, 22 Nov. 2024
Mike Sando, The Athletic, 26 Aug. 2024
Early and mail-in voting has been underway since Oct. 19 with only isolated reports of balloting errors.
—Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 2 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near ballot
Cite this Entry
“Ballot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballot. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ballot
1 of 2 noun
ballot
2 of 2 verbNoun
from Italian ballotta "little ball (used in voting)," from balla "ball"
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