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When people voted in ancient Athens, they dropped pebbles into an urn. Similarly, when voting was done by the people of Venice during the Renaissance, secrecy was assured by the use of little colored or marked balls. The Italian word for “little ball” is ballotta, from balla, meaning “ball,” and the diminutive suffix –otta. Now any kind of secret voting, by ball, piece of paper, or voting machine, is called a ballot. So is the right to vote itself.
Examples of ballot in a Sentence
Daniel Flatley, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
The Tigers were ranked 25th on my last ballot, while Arizona State was 19.
—Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Oct. 2025
Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2025
Wilson, who has fallen in QB Tiers balloting every year since 2020, is one of 14 quarterbacks with at least 40 starts since 2022.
—Mike Sando, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballot
Cite this Entry
“Ballot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballot. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ballot
1 of 2 noun
ballot
2 of 2 verbNoun
from Italian ballotta "little ball (used in voting)," from balla "ball"
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