poll

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See also Poll, póll, and põll

Contents

English [edit]

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Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English pol, polle ("head, hair of the head, list"; > Anglo-Norman poll (list)), from Middle Low German pol, poll (head) or Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (head, top), both from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (round object, head, top), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (orb, round object, bubble), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (to blow, swell). Akin to Scots pow (head, crown, skalp, skull), Eastern Frisian pol (round, full, brimming), Low German polle (head, tree-top, bulb), Danish puld (crown of a hat), Swedish dialectal pull (head). Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from notion of "counting heads".

Alternative forms [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

poll (plural polls)

  1. An election or a survey of a particular group of people.
    The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria.
  2. (usually as plural) A place where voters cast ballots.
    The polls close at 8 p.m.
  3. Hair
    • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      ...the doctor, as if to hear better, had taken off his powdered wig, and sat there, looking very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll.
  4. The head, especially its top part.
    • 1908, O. Henry, A Tempered Wind
      And you might perceive the president and general manager, Mr. R. G. Atterbury, with his priceless polished poll, busy in the main office room dictating letters..
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]

Verb [edit]

poll (third-person singular simple present polls, present participle polling, simple past and past participle polled)

  1. (transitive) To take, record the votes of (an electorate).
  2. (transitive) To solicit mock votes from (a person or group).
  3. (intransitive) To vote at an election.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaconsfield to this entry?)
  4. (transitive) To cut the hair of (a creature).
  5. (transitive) To remove the horns of (an animal).
  6. (transitive, computing, communication) To (repeatedly) request the status of something (such as a computer or printer on a network).
    The network hub polled the department's computers to determine which ones could still respond.
  7. (intransitive, with adverb) To be judged in a poll.
    • 2008, Joanne McEvoy, The politics of Northern Ireland (page 171)
      The election was a resounding defeat for Robert McCartney who polled badly in the six constituencies he contested and even lost his own Assembly seat in North Down.
Translations [edit]

Adjective [edit]

poll

  1. (of kinds of livestock which typically have horns) Bred without horns, and thus hornless.
    Poll Hereford
    Red Poll cows
    • 1757, The monthly review, or, literary journal, volume 17, page 416:
      Sheep, that is, the Horned sort, and those without Horns, called Poll Sheep [...]
    • 1960, Frank O'Loghlen, Frank H. Johnston, Cattle country: an illustrated survey of the Australian beef cattle industry, a complete directory of the studs, page 85:
      About 15000 cattle, comprising 10000 Hereford and Poll Hereford, 4000 Aberdeen Angus and 1000 Shorthorn and Poll Shorthorn, are grazed [...]
    • 1970, The Pastoral review, volume 80, page 457:
      Otherwise, both horned and poll sheep continue to be bred from an inner stud.


Etymology 2 [edit]

Perhaps a shortening of Polly, a common name for pet parrots.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

poll (plural polls)

  1. A pet parrot.

Etymology 3 [edit]

From Ancient Greek  (polloi, the many, the masses)

Pronunciation [edit]

Phonetik.svg This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with enPR, IPA or SAMPA then please add some!

Noun [edit]

poll (plural polls)

  1. (UK, dated) One who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Catalan [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Latin pullus.

Noun [edit]

poll m (plural polls)

  1. A chicken.

Etymology 2 [edit]

Probably from Late Latin peduculus, variant of Latin pediculus, ultimately from pedis.

Noun [edit]

poll m (plural polls)

  1. A louse.
See also [edit]

Dutch [edit]

Verb [edit]

poll

  1. first-person singular present indicative of pollen
  2. imperative of pollen

Irish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Old Irish poll, from Old English pōl (compare English pool).

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: [pˠoːl̪ˠ], [pˠɔl̪ˠ]

Noun [edit]

poll m

  1. hole
  2. pothole

Declension [edit]

Synonyms [edit]

Verb [edit]

poll (present analytic pollann, future analytic pollfaidh, verbal noun polladh, past participle pollta)

  1. (transitive) puncture, pierce, make a hole in

Conjugation [edit]

Mutation [edit]

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
poll pholl bpoll
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Middle English [edit]

Noun [edit]

poll

  1. A head

Scottish Gaelic [edit]

Noun [edit]

poll m (genitive and plural puill)

  1. mud, mire
  2. pond, pool, bog

Derived terms [edit]