What does suffrage mean?
Suffrage means the right to vote in a political election, especially when considered as a right belonging to a particular group of citizens. The term is closely associated with the historical campaign for women's voting rights, known as women's suffrage, but it can also describe the expansion of voting rights for other groups, including people who were excluded because of race, property, age, or social status. Universal suffrage refers to a system in which all adult citizens have the right to vote without those distinctions. In contemporary English, especially in the United States, voting rights is often preferred because it is more immediately understandable. Suffrage remains important in formal and historical discussion because it names the political principle that participation in elections should be governed by citizenship rather than inherited privilege or social prejudice.
nounThe right to vote in a political election. It may refer to the voting right generally or to the right of a particular group, such as women or a specified age group.
- The right to vote in an election.
- The right to vote held by a particular group of people.
- The voting system or the exercise of the right to vote.
"The campaign won the right to full suffrage for women."
"The country introduced universal suffrage for adult citizens."
"Her uncle had long fought for the enfranchisement of women."
The plural is uncommon because suffrage is normally used as an uncountable mass noun.
"The various franchises and suffrages recognized by the constitution were widely debated."
Once, possessing the right to vote was restricted by property, sex, race, and status; the struggle to extend suffrage transformed political citizenship.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does suffrage come from?
The word comes through French suffrage, from the Latin suffragium, meaning a vote or voting tablet. It entered English in the late 18th century and initially referred broadly to the vote or the right to vote. Its later use in movements for the enfranchisement of women helped establish the especially familiar expression women's suffrage.
Related word forms
How suffrage is actually used
The word is most common in formal and historical contexts. In modern usage, it often appears in the compounds universal suffrage and women's suffrage; in the United States, the related term voting rights is more common in everyday speech.
Easily confused with suffrage
Suffrage is the right to vote, whereas a suffragette was a woman who advocated and worked for women's voting rights, especially in Britain.