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plebiscite

UK/ˈplɛbɪsaɪt/US/ˈplɛbəˌsaɪt/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,523 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: plebiscites

A plebiscite is a direct vote of the whole people on one question. Hold a plebiscite, the plebiscite result, a plebiscite on independence.

It is much the same as a referendum, and the difference in practice is that plebiscite is used of votes on sovereignty and borders. The Latin means a decree of the common people, and dictators have used them so often that the word carries suspicion.

Definitions of plebiscite

  1. 1nounplebisciteA direct vote of the whole people on one question.C2

    “The government held a plebiscite to let people decide whether to keep the monarchy.”

plebiscite is a vote.

Where it comes from

Latin plebiscitum means a decree of the plebs, from plebs, the common people, plus scitum, a decree.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *pleh₁-

  2. Latin

    plēbiscītum

  3. French

    plébiscite

  4. English, today

    plebiscite

Built from

  • plēbī scītum · Latin — law of the common people or plebs
  • plēbs · Latin — common people, plebeians
  • scītum · Latin — decree, ordinance, statute

politics (“referendum”) is borrowed from French plébiscite, from Latin plēbiscītum, 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”). Ancient Rome (“law enacted by the common people”) is a Latin plēbiscītum: see above. It is attested earlier than English plebiscitum. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

plebiscite in the wild

  • The period of the plebiscite campaign and the Allied occupation was marked by violence.

    1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite

  • The Freikorps from all over Germany participated in the plebiscite, as well as other bussed-in Germans.

    1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite

  • The Philippine constitutional plebiscite of 1973 occurred from 10 to 15 January which ratified the 1973 Constitution of the Philippines.

    1973 Philippine constitutional plebiscite

  • A constitutional plebiscite was held in the Philippines on February 2, 1987.

    1987 Philippine constitutional plebiscite

  • The plebiscite is pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 3, which was issued on March 25, 1986, by President Corazon Aquino.

    1987 Philippine constitutional plebiscite

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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.