poll

See also: Poll, póll, põll, and Pöll

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”),[1] 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”, adj), 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".

Alternative forms

Pronunciation
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /pɔl/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /pəʊl/, /pɔʊl/
  • (US) IPA(key): /poʊl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -əʊl
  • Homophones: pole, Pole

Noun

poll (plural polls)

  1. A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
    Synonym: survey
  2. A formal vote held in order to ascertain the most popular choice.
    Synonyms: vote, election
    The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria.
    • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
      All soldiers quartered in place are to remove […] and not to return till one day after the poll is ended.
    • 1942 May-June, Charles E. Lee, “The Brampton Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 140, relating to an election in 1837:
      The other returns having come in, the result of the poll, that Sir James Graham had been superseded by Major Aglionby, was declared at Carlisle soon after 11 a.m.
  3. A polling place (usually as plural, polling places)
    The polls close at 8 p.m.
  4. The result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded.
  5. (now rare outside veterinary contexts) The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.
    Synonym: scalp
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      […] 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.
    • 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..
    • 2005, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Donald J. LaRocca, Dirk H. Breiding, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620, Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN, page 53:
      The main plate is formed in two halves, the upper plate having small sideplates, ear guards, an escutcheon plate (blank), and a brass plume-holder, as well as a hinged poll plate.
  6. (in extended senses of the above) A mass of people, a mob or muster, considered as a head count.
  7. The broad or butt end of an axe or a hammer.
  8. The pollard or European chub, a kind of fish.
Derived terms
Translations

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.
  4. To register or deposit, as a vote; to elicit or call forth, as votes or voters.
    He polled a hundred votes more than his opponent.
    • 1717, Thomas Tickell, An Epistle from a Lady in England to a Gentleman at Avignon:
      poll for points of faith his trusty vote
  5. To cut off; to remove by clipping, shearing, etc.; to mow or crop.
    to poll the hair; to poll wool; to poll grass
  6. (transitive) To cut the hair of (a creature).
  7. (transitive) To remove the horns of (an animal).
  8. To remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop.
    to poll a tree
  9. (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.
  10. (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.
  11. (obsolete) To extort from; to plunder; to strip. Especially in conjunction with pill for emphasis.
  12. To impose a tax upon.
  13. To pay as one's personal tax.
  14. To enter, as polls or persons, in a list or register; to enroll, especially for purposes of taxation; to enumerate one by one.
  15. (law) To cut or shave smooth or even; to cut in a straight line without indentation[2]
    a polled deed
Translations

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.

References
  1. Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "poll, n.1" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2006.
  2. Alexander M[ansfield] Burrill (1850–1851) “POLL”, in A New Law Dictionary and Glossary: […], volumes (please specify |part= or |volume=I or II), New York, N.Y.: John S. Voorhies, […], →OCLC.

Etymology 2

Perhaps a shortening of Polly, a common name for pet parrots.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /pɒl/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒl

Noun

poll (plural polls)

  1. A pet parrot.

Etymology 3

From Ancient Greek πολλοί (polloí, “the many, the masses”), as in hoi polloi.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pɒl/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒl

Noun

poll (plural polls)

  1. (UK, dated, Cambridge University) One who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.
See also

References
  • Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Catalan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan poll, from Latin pullus.

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

  1. chicken (bird)
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Catalan pooll~peoll, from Late Latin pēduculus.

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

  1. louse (insect)
Derived terms
  • pollós
See also

References
  • “poll” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 3

Ultimately from Latin pōpulus.

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

  1. poplar
    Synonym: pollancre
Derived terms
  • poll blanc
  • poll àlber

References

Dutch

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Verb

poll

  1. inflection of pollen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

German

Verb

poll

  1. singular imperative of pollen
  2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of pollen

Icelandic

Noun

poll

  1. indefinite accusative singular of pollur

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish poll (“hole”), from Old English pull, pyll (“tidal pool”) or Old Norse pollr (whence Icelandic pollur), from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool”). Cognate with Welsh pwll.

Pronunciation
  • (Kerry) IPA(key): /pˠɑul̪ˠ/, [pˠɔul̪ˠ]
  • (Galway) IPA(key): /pˠɑul̪ˠ/
  • (Ulster) IPA(key): /pˠʌl̪ˠ/

Noun

poll m (genitive singular poill, nominative plural poill)

  1. hole
  2. storage pit; disposal pit; extraction pit
  3. pool, puddle; pond, sea
  4. burrow, lair
  5. dark, mean place (of prison)
  6. shaft, vent hole
  7. aperture
  8. (anatomy) orifice, cavity
  9. perforation
  10. (figuratively) leak
  11. 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

Derived terms
  • áth poill (“the mouth of a hole”)
  • bruach poill (“edge of hole”)
  • dubh poill (“black colouring substance found in bog”)
  • dúnpholl (“manhole”)
  • (as receptacle) poll an bhaic (“hole in chimney corner”)
  • poll báite (“marsh-hole”)
  • poll bréan (“cesspool”)
  • poll coinicéir (“rabbit-hole”)
  • poll criathraigh (“bog-hole”)
  • poll deataigh (“smoke vent”)
  • poll draoibe (“muddy pool”)
  • poll duibheagáin (“deep dark hole; bottomless pit”)
  • poll eochrach (“keyhole”)
  • poll guail (“coal-pit”)
  • (of whirlpool) poll guairneáin (“vortex”)
  • poll iomlaisc (“wallow-hole”)
  • poll na hascaille (“axillary cavity”)
  • (in potato) poll péiste (“worm-hole”)
  • poll stócála (“stoke-hole”)
  • poll súraic (“swallow-hole; whirlpool”)
  • poll tóraíochta (“bore-hole”)
  • preabaire poill (“rabbit”)

Verb

poll (present analytic pollann, future analytic pollfaidh, verbal noun polladh, past participle pollta)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) hole; puncture, pierce, bore, perforate (make a hole in)

Conjugation
conjugation of poll (first conjugation – A)
singular plural relative autonomous
first second third first second third
indicative present pollaim pollann tú;
pollair†		 pollann sé, sí pollaimid pollann sibh pollann siad;
pollaid†		 a phollann; a phollas /
a bpollann*; a bpollas*		 polltar
past pholl mé; phollas pholl tú; phollais pholl sé, sí phollamar; pholl muid pholl sibh; phollabhair pholl siad; pholladar a pholl /
ar pholl*		 polladh
past habitual phollainn / bpollainn‡‡ pholltá / bpolltᇇ pholladh sé, sí / bpolladh sé, s퇇 phollaimis; pholladh muid / bpollaimis‡‡; bpolladh muid‡‡ pholladh sibh / bpolladh sibh‡‡ phollaidís; pholladh siad / bpollaidís‡‡; bpolladh siad‡‡ a pholladh /
a bpolladh*		 pholltaí / bpollta퇇
future pollfaidh mé;
pollfad		 pollfaidh tú;
pollfair†		 pollfaidh sé, sí pollfaimid;
pollfaidh muid		 pollfaidh sibh pollfaidh siad;
pollfaid†		 a phollfaidh; a phollfas /
a bpollfaidh*; a bpollfas*		 pollfar
conditional phollfainn / bpollfainn‡‡ phollfá / bpollfᇇ phollfadh sé, sí / bpollfadh sé, s퇇 phollfaimis; phollfadh muid / bpollfaimis‡‡; bpollfadh muid‡‡ phollfadh sibh / bpollfadh sibh‡‡ phollfaidís; phollfadh siad / bpollfaidís‡‡; bpollfadh siad‡‡ a phollfadh /
a bpollfadh*		 phollfaí / bpollfa퇇
subjunctive present go bpolla mé;
go bpollad†		 go bpolla tú;
go bpollair†		 go bpolla sé, sí go bpollaimid;
go bpolla muid		 go bpolla sibh go bpolla siad;
go bpollaid†		 — go bpolltar
past dá bpollainn dá bpolltá dá bpolladh sé, sí dá bpollaimis;
dá bpolladh muid		 dá bpolladh sibh dá bpollaidís;
dá bpolladh siad		 — dá bpolltaí
imperative pollaim poll polladh sé, sí pollaimis pollaigí;
pollaidh†		 pollaidís — polltar
verbal noun polladh
past participle pollta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Derived terms
  • polltóir (“perforator”)
  • uchtbhalla pollta (“machicolation”)

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.

Further reading

Middle English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

poll

  1. A head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which the hair (normally) grows

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse pollr.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pɔlː/

Noun

poll m (definite singular pollen, indefinite plural pollar, definite plural pollane)

  1. a small branch of a fjord, often with a narrow inlet

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English poll.

Noun

poll n (plural polluri)

  1. vote, election
  2. opinion poll

Declension
Declension of poll
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) poll pollul (niște) polluri pollurile
genitive/dative (unui) poll pollului (unor) polluri pollurilor
vocative pollule pollurilor

References
  • poll in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish poll (“hole”), from Old English pull, pyll (“tidal pool”) or Old Norse pollr (whence Icelandic pollur), from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool”). Cognate with Welsh pwll.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pʰɔul̪ˠ/

Noun

poll m (genitive singular puill, plural puill)

  1. mud, mire
  2. pond, pool, bog

Derived terms

Mutation
Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical Lenition
pollpholl
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References
    This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.