poll

Definition

A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.

Etymology

From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, 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, scalp, skull”), Saterland Frisian pol (“round, full, brimming”, adjective), German Low German Polle, Poll (“round object, ball”), German Low German Poller (“head, tree-top, bulb”), Danish puld (“crown of a hat”), Swedish dialectal pull (“head”). Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from the notion of "counting heads".

Example Sentences

• "The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria."
• "All soldiers quartered in place are to remove […] and not to return till one day after the poll is ended."
• "The other returns having come in, the result of the poll, that Sir James Graham had been superseded by Major Aglionby, was declared at Carlisle soon after 11 a.m."

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