Ballot

How to spell ballot

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ballot

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ballot mean?

1. nounA system of voting in secret, or the paper or process by which such a vote is cast.
2. verbTo decide a matter by holding a secret vote.

Ballot in a sentence

• noun

  Members will receive a postal ballot before the annual meeting.

• verb

  The committee agreed to ballot the entire membership on the fee increase.

• noun

  The union held a secret ballot on the proposed strike.

• verb

  Organisers will ballot residents before changing the parking rules.

Where does ballot come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word comes from the Italian ballotta, meaning 'little ball', a diminutive of balla 'ball'. The connection to balls is literal rather than figurative: in Renaissance Venice and other Italian city-states, citizens cast secret votes by dropping small coloured balls into a box, one colour signalling approval and another rejection. English borrowed the term in the middle of the 1500s, keeping both the spelling and the idea of a hidden, anonymous vote. Over time the physical ball gave way to a marked slip of paper, but the name stayed, so the modern 'ballot paper' still carries the memory of those tiny voting balls. The double L and single T reflect that Italian root and are the spelling trap, since the ear hears only one clear consonant in the middle.

How the word is built

• ball- (from Italian balla: ball)
• -ot (diminutive suffix: 'little ball')