Meanings
plural ballots
- originallyA small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.
Imagine if the outcome in Michigan is close, and 75% of Biden supporters vote absentee, yet 10% or more of those ballots are rejected.
2020 September 14, Richard H. Pildes, “The three words that can avert an election nightmare”, in CNN1 more example
In Wyoming, a GOP state senator forwarded an FGA draft bill to Secretary of State Chuck Gray that would prohibit sending out unsolicited absentee ballot request forms.
2024 March 17, Daniel Medina and Bob Ortega, “Emails show how a right-wing group steers GOP leaders on major policy issues”, in CNNSynonyms: ballot paper, voting slip
- The process of voting, especially in secret; a round of voting.
July 1836, A. B. (initials of author), London and Westminster Review Article XI, Bribery and Intimidation at Elections the insufficiency of the ballot
1 more example
In the TSSA ballot, 80% of management grade and 60% of general grade members voted to accept, on an overall turnout of 57%.
2023 March 9, Mel Holley, “TSSA accepts offer, but RMT sets new strike dates”, in RAIL, number 978, page 11
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna choice that is made by counting the number of people in favor of each alternative
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*balluz“ball”
- Proto-West Germanic*ballu“ball”
- Middle Frenchbalote
- Italianbalota
- Englishballot
Borrowed from Italian balota (obsolete), ballotta (“small ball, especially one used to register a vote”), from balla (“bale, bundle”) + -otta (suffix forming diminutive nouns); or from Middle French balote (obsolete), ballotte (“small ball used to register a vote”) (also compare Middle French balotiage, French ballottage (“second ballot, runoff”)); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *ballu (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”).
More words from Italian, Middle French, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَصْوِيت
- تَصْوِيت (taṣwīt)process of voting
Basque bozketa
- bozketaprocess of voting
Bulgarian гласува́не, бюлети́на
- гласува́не (glasuváne)process of voting
- бюлети́на (bjuletína)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- тегля жребии (teglja žrebii)to draw lots
Catalan papereta de vot
- papereta de votpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Chinese Mandarin 投票, 選票 /选票
- 投票 (tóupiào)process of voting
- 選票 /选票 (xuǎnpiào)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Czech hlasování, volba
- hlasováníprocess of voting
- volbaprocess of voting
- volební lístekpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- hlasovací lístekpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- (tajně) hlasovatto vote by ballot
- volitto vote by ballot
Danish afstemning
- afstemningprocess of voting
Dutch kandidatenlijst, stembiljet
- kandidatenlijstlist of candidates
- stembiljetpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Esperanto baloto, baloto
- balotoprocess of voting
- balotopaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Finnish äänestäminen, äänestys
- äänestäminenprocess of voting
- äänestysprocess of voting
- äänimäärätotal of all votes cast in an election
- ehdokaslistalist of candidates
- äänestyslippupaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- äänestyslipukepaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- vaalilippupaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- arpoato draw lots
French votation, bulletin de vote
- votationprocess of voting
- bulletin de votepaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- bulletinpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
German Abstimmung, Stimmzettel
- Abstimmungprocess of voting
- Stimmzettelpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Greek ψηφοφορία, ψηφοδέλτιο
- ψηφοφορία (psifoforía)process of voting
- ψηφοδέλτιο (psifodéltio)list of candidates
- ψηφοδέλτιο (psifodéltio)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Hebrew פתק הצבעה
- פתק הצבעה (peteq hatzba'a)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Hungarian titkos szavazás, szavazócédula
- titkos szavazásprocess of voting
- szavazócédulapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- szavazólappaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Icelandic kjörseðill
- kjörseðillpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Indonesian kertas suara, surat suara
- kertas suarapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- surat suarapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Italian votazione, scheda elettorale
- votazioneprocess of voting
- scheda elettoralepaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Japanese 投票, 投票用紙
- 投票 (tōhyō)process of voting
- 投票用紙 (tōhyō yōshi)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Korean 투표, 투표용지
- 투표 (tupyo)process of voting
- 투표용지 (tupyoyongji)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- 투표지 (tupyoji)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Latin suffrāgium
- suffrāgiumprocess of voting
Malay kertas undi
- kertas undipaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Māori māpere, rārangi kaitono pōti
- māpereprocess of voting
- rārangi kaitono pōtilist of candidates
- pepa pōtipaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- māpereto draw lots
Norwegian opptelling, valgliste
- opptellingtotal of all votes cast in an election
- valglistelist of candidates
Norwegian Bokmål avstemning, stemmeseddel
- avstemningprocess of voting
- stemmeseddelpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Polish głosowanie, balot
- głosowanieprocess of voting
- balotprocess of voting
- balotażprocess of voting
- pula głosówtotal of all votes cast in an election
- lista kandydatówlist of candidates
- karta do głosowaniapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- balotowaćto vote by ballot
- głosowaćto vote by ballot
- zagłosowaćto vote by ballot
- losowaćto draw lots
- wylosowywaćto draw lots
- wylosowaćto draw lots
Portuguese votação, lista de candidatos
- votaçãoprocess of voting
- lista de candidatoslist of candidates
- cédula eleitoralpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- boletimpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Romanian buletin de vot
- buletin de votpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Russian голосова́ние, волеизъявле́ние
- голосова́ние (golosovánije)process of voting
- волеизъявле́ние (voleizʺjavlénije)process of voting
- баллотиро́вка (ballotiróvka)process of voting
- бюллете́нь (bjulleténʹ)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- избира́тельный бюллете́нь (izbirátelʹnyj bjulleténʹ)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- тяну́ть жре́бий (tjanútʹ žrébij)to draw lots
Slovak hlasovanie
- hlasovanieprocess of voting
Spanish elecciones, votación
- eleccionesprocess of voting
- votaciónprocess of voting
- candidaturalist of candidates
- papeleta de votopaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- balotapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- boletapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Swedish ballotering, omröstning
- balloteringprocess of voting
- omröstningprocess of voting
- valsedelpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- röstsedelpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- balloterato vote by ballot
- dra lottto draw lots
- lottato draw lots
Tagalog balota
- balotapaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Ukrainian голосува́ння, бюлете́нь
- голосува́ння (holosuvánnja)process of voting
- бюлете́нь (bjuleténʹ)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- виборчий бюлете́нь (vyborčyj bjuleténʹ)paper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
Vietnamese lá phiếu, phiếu bầu cử
- lá phiếupaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- phiếu bầu cửpaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- phiếu bầupaper used for vote-casting — see also ballot paper
- bỏ phiếuto vote by ballot
- bỏ phiếu bầuto vote by ballot
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ballot
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ballot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballot
“ballot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballot. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ballot,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballot.
Source: ballot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.