the right to vote, especially in a political election. 2. a vote given in favor of a proposed measure, candidate, or the like. 3. Ecclesiastical. a prayer, especially a short intercessory prayer or petition. read more
To answer that, we must look to the word’s Latin ancestor, suffragium, which can be translated as "vote," "support," or "prayer." That term produced descendants in a number of languages, and English picked up its senses of "suffrage" from two different places. read more