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suffrage

SUF-rij /ˈsʌfrɪdʒ/

nounB2GRESATTOEFLUPSC

formalacademicpolitical

The legal right or privilege to vote in political elections.

Refers specifically to the constitutional or legal right to participate in voting, often discussed in historical contexts like universal suffrage or women's suffrage.

The story behind the word. In ancient Rome, voters marked their choices on broken pieces of pottery or clay tiles called suffragia. Over centuries in Latin and Anglo-Norman French, the term evolved from the physical voting token to mean an intercessory prayer, and eventually settled in Middle English into the general right to cast a vote in public elections.

Word relationships

franchise: Franchise is an exact synonym for political voting rights, though 'franchise' can also refer to commercial business licenses.
vote: 'Vote' refers to the action or individual ballot, whereas 'suffrage' is the systemic right to vote.

disenfranchisement: Disenfranchisement is the systemic revocation or denial of voting rights.

Commonly confused with

sufferance: 'Sufferance' means passive permission or endurance, whereas 'suffrage' means the right to vote.

Word family

suffragist (noun): An advocate for the extension of voting rights, especially to women.
suffragette (noun): A historical female activist for women's voting rights, particularly in early 20th-century Britain.

Collocations

universal suffrage
women's suffrage
grant suffrage
deny suffrage

Example sentences

"The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, granting full suffrage to women." Historical constitutional law
"Universal suffrage remains one of the foundational criteria for evaluating whether a nation qualifies as a true constitutional democracy." Modern political science

Memory hook

Suffrage sounds like 'suffer' + 'age' — activists suffered for ages until they won universal suffrage! Suffer no more: claim your right to vote.

When not to use

Do not use to describe the physical act of casting a ballot or general decision-making outside political and civic voting.

Fun facts

The term 'suffragette' was originally coined by a British newspaper as a derogatory diminutive, but women activists proudly embraced it!