plebiscite

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See also: plébiscite, plébiscité, and plebiscité

English

WOTD – 15 September 2023

Etymology

Sense 1 (“referendum”) is borrowed from French plébiscite, from Latin plēbiscītum,[1] plēbis scītum, plēbī scītum (“law of the common people or plebs”), from plēbis (the genitive singular of plēbs (“common people, plebeians”)) + scītum (“decree, ordinance, statute”).[2]

Sense 3 (“law enacted by the common people”) is a learned borrowing from Latin plēbiscītum: see above.[1] It is attested earlier than English plebiscitum.[2]

cognates

Pronunciation

Noun

plebiscite (plural plebiscites)

  2. (law, politics) A direct popular vote on an issue of public importance, such as an amendment to the constitution, a change in the sovereignty of the nation, or some government policy.
    Synonym: referendum
  3. (by extension) An expression of the public's views on an issue, whether legally binding or not.
  5. (Ancient Rome, historical) Synonym of plebiscitum (“a law enacted by the common people, under the superintendence of a tribune or some subordinate plebeian magistrate, without the intervention of the senate”)

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “plebiscite, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “plebiscite, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “plebiscitum, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading

Spanish

Verb

plebiscite

  1. inflection of plebiscitar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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