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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

vote.

A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/vəʊt/Received-Pronunciation/voʊt/General-American/vəʉt/Australia/(ʋ)oːʈ/India
  1. A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.

    The city council decided the matter should go to public vote.
    Parliament will hold a vote of confidence regarding the minister.
  2. An act or instance of participating in such a choice, e.g., by submitting a ballot.

    The Supreme Court upheld the principle of one person, one vote.
  3. An ardent wish or desire; a vow; a prayer.

    obsolete
  4. A formalized petition or request.

    obsolete
  5. Any judgment of intellect leading to a formal opinion, a point of view.

    obsolete
  6. Any judgment of intellect leading not only to a formal opinion but also to a particular choice in a legally relevant measure, a point of view as published.

    dissenting vote (i.e. in particular the differing opinion published with a judicial judgment considered as a source of information)
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *h₁wogʷʰéyeti Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Proto-Italic *woɣʷetos Proto-Italic *wowitos Latin vōtus Latin vōtumder. English vote From Latin vōtum, a form of voveō (“to vow”) (cognate with Ancient Greek εὔχομαι (eúkhomai, “to vow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- (“to promise, to vow”). Doublet of vow.

verb/vəʊt/Received-Pronunciation/voʊt/General-American/vəʉt/Australia/(ʋ)oːʈ/India
  1. To cast a vote; to assert a formalized choice in an election.

    intransitive
    Q: Did you vote last month? A: Yes. I voted for John Smith, and it's a shame that he lost; you can't blame me for the mess we're in now.
    The directors voted on the question of whether to increase the R&D spending.
  2. To choose or grant (some objective) by means of a vote, or by general consent.

    transitive
    The directors voted an increase in R&D spending.
    The meal was voted a great success.
  3. To exercise one's voting right upon (a ballot or a share of stock).

    transitive
    vote your ballot
    vote your shares
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *h₁wogʷʰéyeti Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Proto-Italic *woɣʷetos Proto-Italic *wowitos Latin vōtus Latin vōtumder. English vote From Latin vōtum, a form of voveō (“to vow”) (cognate with Ancient Greek εὔχομαι (eúkhomai, “to vow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- (“to promise, to vow”). Doublet of vow.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.