Electoral

How to spell electoral

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce electoral

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does electoral mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to elections or to the process of voting.

Electoral in a sentence

• The candidate fell short by a narrow electoral margin.

• Boundary changes were proposed for the electoral districts ahead of the next vote.

Where does electoral come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb eligere, meaning 'to pick out' or 'to choose', which was formed from e- 'out' and legere 'to gather or select'. From the related noun elector, 'one who chooses', medieval and early modern Latin produced electoralis, describing anything to do with choosing or with an elector. In German history the Electors were the princes entitled to choose the Holy Roman Emperor, and English borrowed 'electoral' in the seventeenth century first in that grand political sense before it broadened to cover voting in general. The same eligere root sits inside the everyday words 'elect', 'election' and 'eligible', which is a useful memory hook. The spelling trap is the ending: it is -oral, built on elector, not the tempting -orial that people borrow from words like 'editorial'.

How the word is built

• elect- (from Latin eligere: to pick out, choose)
• -or (one who does)
• -al (adjective suffix)