sortition
[sawr-tish-uh n]
- the casting or drawing of lots.
Show More
Origin of sortition
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sortition
Contemporary Examples
Sortition rests on two rather unique properties of random sampling.
First, sortition was the main system for choosing political officials in ancient Athens.
Still, there are other places where, like trial juries, sortition make sense.
Really, sortition strikes at the tension at the heart of elective representative democracy.
Historical Examples
At what date was election by lot, or sortition, introduced for the archonship?
The real effect of sortition was to equalize the chances of rich and poor without civil strife.
sortition
- the act of casting lots
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin sortitio, from sortiri to cast lots
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012