Etymology

suffrage

suf·frage
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Today it means: The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election. Full definition →

Middle English suffrage ← Classical Latin suffrāgium ← Middle French suffrage
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Italic*supo
  3. Latinsub
  4. Latinsub-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*bʰreg-der.?
  6. Latinsuffrāgō
  7. Classical Latinsuffrāgium
  8. Old Frenchsuffrage
  9. Middle Frenchsuffrage
  10. Classical Latinsuffrāgium
  11. Middle Englishsuffrage
  12. English todaysuffrage

From Middle English suffrage (“prayers or pleas on behalf of another”), from Middle French suffrage (from Old French suffrage) and its etymon Classical Latin suffrāgium (“support, vote, right of voting”). Not related to suffer. The sense of "vote" or "right to vote" was directly derived from Classical Latin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.