Meanings
D'Hondt method1
alternative d'Hondt method
- A highest-averages method for allocating seats, used to achieve proportional representation in elections, and often favoring large parties and coalitions.
The only exception to the rule was in the Kalmyk Republic where the D'Hondt method was used.
2014, Cameron Ross, editor, Russian Regional Politics under Putin and Medvedev, Routledge, →ISBN, page 642 more examples
The d'Hondt method is one of the most commonly used methods in Europe. It has been sharply criticized for being the “less proportional method.”
1999, Pietro Grilli di Cortona et al., Evaluation and Optimization of Electoral Systems, SIAM, →ISBN, page 103Secondly, this chapter aims to substantiate the inference that the D'Hondt method also gets the largest parties overrepresented.
2021, Kazuaki Nagatomi, The Operation of the Japanese Electoral System since 1994, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 142Synonyms: greatest divisors method, Jefferson method
d'Hondt method2
- alternativeAlternative form of D'Hondt method.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA highest-averages method for allocating seats, used to achieve proportional representation in elections, and often favoring large parties and coalitions.
Origin
Named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt (1841–1901), who described it in 1878 for proportional allocation of parliamentary seats to the parties.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German D'Hondt-Verfahren
- D'Hondt-Verfahrenmethod for allocating seats in parliaments
Portuguese método D'Hondt
- método D'Hondtmethod for allocating seats in parliaments
Cite this entry
D'Hondt method. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/D'Hondt%20method
“D'Hondt method.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/D'Hondt%20method. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “D'Hondt method,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/D'Hondt%20method.
Source: D'Hondt method on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.