poll

See also Poll, póll, and põll

English

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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

Pronunciation

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
Derived terms
Translations
An election or a survey of a particular group
place to vote

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)
to remove the horns of (an animal)

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

Noun

poll (plural polls)

  1. A pet parrot.

Etymology 3

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

Pronunciation

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

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
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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

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

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Last modified on 10 May 2013, at 19:02