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electorate

UK/ɪˈlɛktəɹət/US/ɪˈlɛktəɹət/
nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,036 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: electorates

The electorate is everyone entitled to vote in an election. The whole electorate, a shrinking electorate, address the electorate.

Who is in it is a political question in itself, decided by age, residence and registration rules — and changing any of those changes results. Turnout is measured against it. In Australia an electorate is also a constituency. Note the -ate ending, naming a body, as in directorate.

Definitions of electorate

  1. 1nounelectorateEveryone entitled to vote in an election.B2+

    “The electorate voted to give the new party a clear majority.”

electorate is a body of voters.

Where it comes from

Elector plus -ate, an ending naming a body or office. Directorate and consulate are formed the same way.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *leǵ-

  2. English, today

    electorate

From elector + -ate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Politics & Society

Practise this word

electorate in the wild

  • For most of its existence, the electorate was ruled in personal union with Great Britain and Ireland following the Hanoverian Succession.

    Electorate of Hanover

  • The capital of the electorate was Trier; from the 16th century onward, the main residence of the Elector was in Koblenz.

    Electorate of Trier

  • Two populated islands fall within the electorate; Magnetic Island and Palm Island, each have about 2500 residents, 93% of Palm Island's inhabitants are Indigenous.

    Electoral district of Townsville

  • The electorate was first formed for the 1890 election and was called Palmerston until 1938.

    Palmerston North (electorate)

  • The Electorate of Bavaria was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria.

    Electorate of Bavaria

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.