- 1選舉權、投票權（如「普選」universal suffrage、「婦女選舉權」women's suffrage）
Suffrage is the right to vote. Not the act of voting, and not the vote you put in the box — the right itself, whether the law lets you vote at all. So you read about 'women's suffrage' (women winning the right to vote), 'universal suffrage' (every adult has it), 'universal male suffrage' (all men but not women, which is what many countries had first).
The word is formal and mostly historical. When people today talk about voting they say 'the right to vote' or 'voting rights'. 'Suffrage' shows up in history class, in constitutions, in writing about democracy — and above all in the story of women fighting for the vote in Britain and the US around 1900. That is why the word carries a feeling of struggle: for most of history most people did not have suffrage, and getting it took decades of pushing.
Hong Kong's arguments over '雙普選' are usually translated with this word too, which is a good reminder that it is still live political vocabulary, not only a museum piece.
One curiosity: in old church English, 'suffrages' also meant short prayers said together. You will only meet that in old prayer books.
組成From Latin suffrāgium, 'support, a vote, the right to vote', through Old French. Middle English first used it for prayers said in support of someone — the older idea is backing somebody up. The Latin itself is built on sub- 'under' plus an uncertain second piece; scholars do not agree on what that piece originally meant.
同家族的字
- suffragettesuffrage + -ette; a woman campaigning for suffrage
- suffragansame Latin suffrāgium — an assisting bishop, from the 'support/vote' sense
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
suffragenoun/ˈsʌfɹɪd͡ʒ/
- 1
The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election.
- universal suffrage, women's suffrage, negro suffrage
- The issues to be presented to the people of the state were black suffrage and woman suffrage. The Equal Rights Association committed all its limited resources to the Kansas campaign.
- 2
The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election.
- What role did the House of Commons play in the political life of the nation in the aftermath of suffrage? There is surprisingly little historiography to help answer the question.
- 3
A vote in deciding a particular question.
- But the President himself says that " upon him has been devolved, by the constitution, and the suffrages of the American people, the duty of superintending the operation of the executive departments of the Government,
- Hence, by rendering the suffrages secret in the Roman republic, all was lost; it was no longer possible to direct a populace that sought its own destruction
- 4
ChristianityA prayer, for example a prayer offered for the faithful dead.
- 1564, Pope Pius IV (unknown translator), Creed of Pope Pius IV I firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.
- As these holy prayers and suffrages following are set forth of most godly zeal for edifying and stirring of devotion of all true faithful Christian hearts […]
- 5
ChristianityA short petition, as those after the creed in matins and evensong.
- Lastly, in this suffrage, we intercede for prisoners and captives; we "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them."
- 6
Aid, intercession.
- Retoricyons and oratours, in freſhe humanyte Support parrot, I pray you wᵗ your ſuffrage ornate Of confuſe tantum, auoydynge the chekmate
- 7
Testimony; attestation; witness; approval.
- Lactantius and St. Austin are not afraid to confirm by their suffrage the observation made by the heathen writers, that[…]
- Every miracle is the suffrage of heaven to the truth of a doctrine.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。