In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
BALLOT
vote, ballot, voting, balloting
(noun) a choice that is made by counting the number of people in favor of each alternative; “there were only 17 votes in favor of the motion”; “they allowed just one vote per person”
ballot
(noun) a document listing the alternatives that is used in voting
ballot
(verb) vote by ballot; “The voters were balloting in this state”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
ballot (plural ballots)
Originally, a small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.
The process of voting, especially in secret; a round of voting.
The total of all the votes cast in an election.
(chiefly, US) A list of candidates running for office; a ticket.
Synonyms
• (paper or card used to cast a vote): ballot paper, voting slip
Verb
ballot (third-person singular simple present ballots, present participle balloting, simple past and past participle balloted)
To vote or decide by ballot.
To draw lots.
Source: Wiktionary
Bal"lot, n. Etym: [F. ballotte, fr. It. ballotta. See Ball round body.]
1. Originally, a ball used for secret voting. Hence: Any printed or written ticket used in voting.
2. The act of voting by balls or written or printed ballots or tickets; the system of voting secretly by balls or by tickets. The insufficiency of the ballot. Dickens.
3. The whole number of votes cast at an election, or in a given territory or electoral district. Ballot box, a box for receiving ballots.
Bal"lot, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Balloted; p. pr. & vb. n. Balloting.] Etym: [F. ballotter to toss, to ballot, or It. ballottare. See Ballot, n.]
Definition: To vote or decide by ballot; as, to ballot for a candidate.
Bal"lot, v. t.
Definition: To vote for or in opposition to. None of the competitors arriving to a sufficient number of balls, they fell to ballot some others. Sir H. Wotton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 July 2025
SENSE
(noun) the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; “in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing”
Coffee Trivia
