suffrage Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a legal right guaranteed by the 15th amendment to the US Constitution; guaranteed to women by the 19th amendment
    right to vote; vote.
    • American women got the vote in 1920

WordNet


Suf"frage noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
    I ask your voices and your suffrages. Shak.
  2. Testimony; attestation; witness; approval.
    Lactantius and St. Austin confirm by their suffrage the observation made by heathen writers. Atterbury.
    Every miracle is the suffrage of Heaven to the truth of a doctrine. South.
  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.
    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.
  4. Aid; assistance. A Latinism Obs. 5. The right to vote; franchise.
Suf"frage transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To vote for; to elect. Obs. Milton.

Webster 1913