poll

See also Poll, póll, and põll

English

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

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

• pol, pole

Pronunciation

• (Australia) IPA: /paɔl/, X-SAMPA: /paOl/
• (UK) IPA: /pəʊl/, X-SAMPA: /p@Ul/
• (US) IPA: /poʊl/, X-SAMPA: /poUl/
• Homophones: pole, Pole

Noun

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

• (election or survey): election, survey
• (hair): hair

Derived terms

• polling
• straw poll
• opinion poll
• tadpole

Translations

An election or a survey of a particular group

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 投票 (cmn) (tóupiào), 選舉 (cmn), 选举 (cmn) (xuǎnjǔ)

• Czech: anketa (cs) f
• Finnish: äänestys, mielipidemittaus
• French: sondage (fr) m
• German: Umfrage (de) f
• Greek: ψηφοφορία (el) (psifoforía) f , δημοσκόπηση (el) (dimoskópisi) f 
• Interlingua: inquesta (ia)

• Italian: sondaggio (it) m, votazione (it) f, scrutinio (it) m
• Japanese: ポール (ja) (pōru) n
• Korean: 투표 (ko), 여론조사 (ko)
• Portuguese: enquete (pt) f
• Russian: опрос (ru) (oprós) m 
• Serbo-Croatian: anketa (sh) f
• Spanish: encuesta (es) f

place to vote

• Finnish: äänestyspaikka (fi)
• Greek: εκλογικό κέντρο (el) (eklogikó kéntro) n 

• Russian: избирательный участок (ru) (izbirátel'nyj učástok) m , избирательный пункт (ru) (izbirátel'nyj punkt) m 

Verb

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

to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)

• Dutch: peilen (nl)
• Finnish: suorittaa mielipidetutkimus

• Italian: raccogliere (it) voti
• Spanish: encuesta (es), encuestas (es) pl

to remove the horns of (an animal)

• Finnish: leikata sarvet
• Irish: dí-adharc (ga)

• Italian: tagliare (it) le corna

Adjective

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

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /pɒl/, X-SAMPA: /pQl/

Noun

poll (plural polls)

1. A pet parrot.

Etymology 3

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

Noun

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

• gentleman's C

References

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

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Catalan

Etymology 1

From Latin pullus.

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

1. A chicken.

Etymology 2

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

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

1. A louse.

See also

• llémena (louse)

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Dutch

Verb

poll

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

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Irish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: [pˠoːl̪ˠ], [pˠɔl̪ˠ]

Noun

poll m

1. hole
2. pothole

Declension

Declension of poll

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative poll poill Vocative a phoill a pholla Genitive poill poll Dative poll poill

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an poll na poill Genitive an phoill na bpoll Dative leis an bpoll don pholl leis na poill

Synonyms

• (pothole): linntreog

Verb

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

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

Conjugation

First Conjugation (A)

		singular			plural			autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	pollaim	pollann tú; pollair†	pollann sé, sí	pollaimid	pollann sibh	pollann siad; pollaid†	polltar
	past	pholl mé; phollas†	pholl tú; phollais†	pholl sé, sí	phollamar	pholl sibh; phollabhair†	pholl siad; pholladar†	polladh
	future	pollfaidh mé; pollfad†	pollfaidh tú; pollfair†	pollfaidh sé, sí	pollfaimid; pollfam†	pollfaidh sibh	pollfaidh siad; pollfaid†	pollfar
	past habitual	phollainn	pholltá	pholladh sé, sí	phollaimis	pholladh sibh	phollaidís	pholltaí
imperative		pollaim	poll	polladh sé, sí	pollaimis	pollaigí	pollaidís	polltar
conditional		phollfainn	phollfá	phollfadh sé, sí	phollfaimis	phollfadh sibh	phollfaidís	phollfaí
subjunctive	present	polla mé; pollad†	polla tú; pollair†	polla sé, sí	pollaimid	polla sibh	polla siad; pollaid†	polltar
	past	pollainn	polltá	polladh sé, sí	pollaimis	polladh sibh	pollaidís	polltaí
verbal noun		polladh
past participle		pollta

† Dialect form

Mutation

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.

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Middle English

Noun

poll

1. A head

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Scottish Gaelic

Noun

poll m (genitive and plural puill)

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

Derived terms

• poll-caca