Meanings
plural plebiscitums · plural plebiscita
- Ancient RomeA law enacted by the plebs, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the senate's intervention.
Still worse went it with another individual; doomed, by extempore Plebiscitum, to the Lanterne; […]
1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number)Synonyms: plebiscite
- Synonym of plebiscite (“a direct popular vote on an issue of public importance, such as an amendment to the constitution, a change in the sovereignty of the nation, or some government policy; a referendum”).
The propositions of M[axime] du Camp are as follows: […] 3. No war to be declared before it has been submitted to a plebiscitum of the nations preparing to take part in it.
1894, Leo Tolstoy, “Attitude of Men of the Present Day to War”, in Constance Garnett, transl., “The Kingdom of God is within You”: Christianity Not as a Mystic Religion, but as a New Theory of Life […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Cassell Publishing Co. […], →OCLC, page 144Synonyms: plebiscite
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA law enacted by the plebs, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the senate's intervention.
nounSynonym of plebiscite (“a direct popular vote on an issue of public importance, such as an amendment to the constitution, a change in the sovereignty of the nation, or some government policy; a referendum”).
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*skey-“to dissect; to split”
- Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-“to fill”
- Latinplēbiscītum
- Englishplebiscitum
Learned borrowing from Latin plēbiscītum, plēbis scītum, plēbī scītum (“law of the common people or plebs”), from plēbis (the genitive singular of plēbs (“common people, plebeians”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + scītum (“decree, ordinance, statute”) (from scīscō (“to ascertain; to know; to decree, enact, ordain”) (from sciō (“to know; to understand”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect; to split”)) + -scō (suffix meaning ‘to begin [doing something]’)) + -tum (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).
More words from Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kansanpäätös
- kansanpäätöslaw enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate
Latin plēbiscītum, psēphisma
- plēbiscītumlaw enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate
- psēphismalaw enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate
Polish plebiscyt, plebiscitum
- plebiscytlaw enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate
- plebiscitumlaw enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate
Cite this entry
plebiscitum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plebiscitum
“plebiscitum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plebiscitum. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plebiscitum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plebiscitum.
Source: plebiscitum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.