suffrage

American  

[suhf-rij] / ˈsʌf rɪdʒ /

noun

• suffrages
  plural

1. the right to vote, especially in a political election.

2. a vote given in favor of a proposed measure, candidate, or the like.

3. Ecclesiastical. a prayer, especially a short intercessory prayer or petition.

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suffrage British  

/ ˈsʌfrɪdʒ /

noun

1. the right to vote, esp in public elections; franchise

2. the exercise of such a right; casting a vote

3. a supporting vote

4. a prayer, esp a short intercessory prayer

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suffrage Cultural  

1. The right to vote (see franchise). In the United States, the term is often associated with the women's movement to win voting rights. (See suffragist.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsuffrage
  noun
• presuffrage
  noun
• antisuffrage
  adjective
• prosuffrage
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suffrages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of suffrage

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin suffrāgium “voting tablet, a vote cast in an assembly (for a law or candidate), an act of voting or the exercise of the right to vote, the decision reached by a vote, an expression of approval, influence or promotion on behalf of a candidate,” equivalent to Latin suffrāg(ārī) “to express public support, vote or canvass for, support” + -ium noun suffix; see -ium

Explanation

Suffrage is the right to vote in public elections. Universal suffrage means everyone gets to vote, as opposed to only men or property holders. Suffrage has nothing to do with "suffering" — unless the wrong person is elected. If you want to vote before you’re 18, fight for youth suffrage and get the law changed. In the meantime, once you turn 18, go vote! Kids grow up, of course, but it has been much harder for others to get the right to vote. For example, after trying for about a hundred years, American women were granted suffrage and voted for the first time in 1920. Think about that next time you’re tempted to stay home on election day.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suffrage suffrages

It passed civil rights acts that guaranteed birthright citizenship and enacted Reconstruction Acts that secured black suffrage in the South.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

The male-female suffrage distinction was easy, but in California, who, exactly, was a white male?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

The author places the Fowlers’ uplifting take on phrenology in the context of the era’s other reform movements—abolition, suffrage and temperance—which aimed for large-scale social transformation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

In a democratic republic the people choose those representatives through elections with broad suffrage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026

June 4: The US Congress approves the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to women, and sends it to all the states for ratification.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Thomas Carlyle felt that "Ballot-boxes and Electoral suffrages" might prove a fatal threat to heroes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Any social reform to be permanent and effectual must be carried out by the universal suffrages of the people.

From The Hindoos as they Are A Description of the Manners, Customs and the Inner Life of Hindoo Society in Bengal by Shib Chunder Bose

The new democracies which were to take the place of the old kingdoms had to have some sanction other than the suffrages of the people.

From Behind the Mirrors The Psychology of Disintegration at Washington by Clinton W. (Clinton Wallace) Gilbert

I do not need your suffrages nor your oaths.

From The Deluge, Vol. II. (of 2) An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. by Henryk Sienkiewicz

The candidates for the suffrages of the electors of Chippinge had passed the threshold of the borough.

From Chippinge Borough by Stanley J. Weyman