sortition

[ sawr-tish-uhn ]

noun

1. the casting or drawing of lots.

sortition

/ sɔːˈtɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of casting lots

Word History and Origins

Origin of sortition¹

1590–1600; < Latin sortītiōn- (stem of sortītiō ), equivalent to sortīt ( us ) (past participle of sortīrī to draw lots, derivative of sors lot, portion; sort, -ite ² ) + -iōn- -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of sortition¹

C16: from Latin sortitio, from sortiri to cast lots

Example Sentences

Sortition rests on two rather unique properties of random sampling.

From The Daily Beast

And, second, we already use sortition to select an important deliberative body, the trial jury.

From The Daily Beast

First, sortition was the main system for choosing political officials in ancient Athens.

From The Daily Beast

Today, there are people who talk about using sortition more widely in our society.

From The Daily Beast

Gat is one of the founders of Equality-by-lot, a popular sortition blog.

From The Daily Beast

At what date was election by lot, or sortition, introduced for the archonship?

From Project Gutenberg

The real effect of sortition was to equalize the chances of rich and poor without civil strife.

From Project Gutenberg