English
suffrage
Suffrage comes from Classical Latin suffrāgium ‘support, vote, right of voting’, and goes back to Latin suffrāgō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuffrāgō
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuffrāgium‘support, vote, right of voting’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffrage‘prayers or pleas on behalf of another’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1521same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuffrāgō
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuffrāgium‘support, vote, right of voting’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffrage‘prayers or pleas on behalf of another’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1521same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1521, John Skelton: “Retoricyons and oratours, in freſhe humanyte Support parrot, I…”
The story
Not related to suffer. The sense of "vote" or "right to vote" was directly derived from Classical Latin.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
break, broken, broke, brigade, brake, bracket, fraction, fracture, fragile, refrain, bray, fragment, fret, breech, frail, infringe, brogan, fractal, refractory, brogue, 38 more
Today it means
noun The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin suffrāgō / suffrage