Etymology From Latin vōtum, a form of voveō (“to vow”) (cognate with Ancient Greek εὔχομαι (eúkhomai, “to vow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- (“to promise, to vow”). Doublet of vow.
1
A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.
The city council decided the matter should go to public vote.
Parliament will hold a vote of confidence regarding the minister.
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One occasion indicative votes were used was in 2003 when MPs were presented with seven different options on how to reform the House of Lords.
Friday’s vote has permanently redefined the kilogram and sent Le Grand K into retirement.2018 November 13, Matthew Robinson and Lianne Kolirin, “The world has just redefined the kilogram”, in CNN:
2
An act or instance of participating in such a choice, e.g., by submitting a ballot.
The Supreme Court upheld the principle of one person, one vote.
There breathes no being but has some pretence / To that fine instinct called poetic sense; […] / The freeman, casting with unpurchased hand / The vote that shakes the turrets of the land.1862 [1836], Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “Poetry: A Metrical Essay”, in The Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, Mass.:: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, pages 7–8:
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As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC, page 01:
It is important to ensure that shareholders who engage with an investee company by voting know whether their votes have been correctly taken into account. Confirmation of receipt of votes should be provided in the case of electronic voting. In addition, each shareholder who casts a vote in a general meeting should at least have the possibility to verify after the general meeting whether the vote has been validly recorded and counted by the company.Directive (EU) 2017/828 amending Directive 2007/36/EC, recital 10
If you vote once, you're considered a good citizen. If you vote twice, you face four years in jail.2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 158:
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Obsolete An ardent wish or desire; a vow; a prayer.
Jol[ante]. In you, Sir, / I live; and when, or by the Courſe of Nature, / Or Violence you muſt fall, the End of my / Devotions is, that one and the ſame Hour / May make us fit for Heaven. // Server. I join with you / In my votes that way: […]1633, Philip Massinger, “The Guardian”, in Three New Playes; viz. The Bashful Lover, The Guardian, The Very Woman. As They have been Often Acted at the Private-House in Black-Friers, by His Late Majesties Servants, with Great Applause, London: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his Shop at the Sign of the Prince's Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard, published 1655, OCLC 15553475; republished as “The Guardian. A Comical History. As It hath been Often Acted at the Private-House in Black-Friars, by His Late Majesty's Servants, with Great Applause, 1655.”, in Thomas Coxeter, editor, The Works of Philip Massinger. Volume the Fourth. Containing, The Guardian. A Very Woman. The Old Law. The City Madam. And Poems on Several Occasions, volume IV, London: Printed for T[homas] Davies, in Russel-street, Covent-Garden, 1761, OCLC 6847259, Act V, scene i, page 71
Obsolete Any judgment of intellect leading to a formal opinion, a point of view.
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Any judgment of intellect leading not only to a formal opinion but also to a particular choice in a legally relevant measure, a point of view as published.
dissenting vote (i.e. in particular the differing opinion published with a judicial judgment considered as a source of information)
Etymology From Latin vōtum, a form of voveō (“to vow”) (cognate with Ancient Greek εὔχομαι (eúkhomai, “to vow”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- (“to promise, to vow”). Doublet of vow.
1
To cast a vote; to assert a formalized choice in an election.
Q: Did you vote last month? A: Yes. I voted for John Smith, and it's a shame that he lost; you can't blame me for the mess we're in now.
The directors voted on the question of whether to increase the R&D spending.
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To vote on large principles, to vote bravely, requires a great amount of information.1848, Frederick William Robertson, An address delivered at the opening of the Working-men's Institute, on Monday, October 23, 1848:
The Violence against Women Act was not distinct from the Crime Bill but an integral part of it. […] Sanders has subsequently cited the inclusion of the VAWA as his reason for voting for the overall bill, on the rather Bidenian principle that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good.2020 September 24, Keshava Guha, “Letters”, in London Review of Books, volume 42, number 18:
Americans voted for deportations when a plurality backed Donald Trump – who’d spoken openly about his plans on the trail – last November. But they didn’t necessarily vote for this.2025 June 11, Aaron Blake, “Americans voted for deportations. They didn’t necessarily vote for this.”, in CNN:
2
To choose or grant (some objective) by means of a vote, or by general consent.
The directors voted an increase in R&D spending.
The meal was voted a great success.
3
To exercise one's voting right upon (a ballot or a share of stock).
vote your ballot
vote your shares
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Please vote your ballot using black or blue ink, then seal your ballot inside the privacy envelope.
The depository may vote shares on behalf of investors who have not submitted instruction to the bank.
Sixteen years after the landing on Plymouth Rock, the general court of Massachusetts voted a sum, equal to a year’s rate ol the whole colony, towards the erection of a college.1845 June 7, “Control of Education in France”, in Niles' National Register, volume 68, number 1,758, Baltimore: Jeremiah Hughes, page 217: