ballot. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

ballot

SYLLABICATION:	bal·lot
PRONUNCIATION:	blt
NOUN:	1. A sheet of paper or a card used to cast or register a vote, especially a secret one. 2. The act, process, or method of voting, especially in secret. 3. A list of candidates running for office; a ticket. 4. The total of all votes cast in an election. 5. The right to vote; franchise. 6. A small ball once used to register a secret vote.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: bal·lot·ed, bal·lot·ing, bal·lots 1. To cast a ballot; vote. 2. To draw lots.
ETYMOLOGY:	Italian ballotta, a small ball used to register a vote, diminutive of dialectal balla, ball, of Germanic origin. See bhel-² in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	ballot·er —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.