voter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvəʊtə(ɹ)/ (UK); /ˈvoʊtɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun formed from English vote + -er.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who has a legal right to vote, an elector: before 1578 in the OED, the 1570s in Etymonline.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

One who gives a vote is from 1647 in HTOED.^[6] One bound by an oath or vow was a rare sense of 1621–60, now obsolete.^[6][4] Voter registration and similar attributive uses are American from 1960.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1578 – an elector.^[4]
• 1621–60 – one bound by a vow (obsolete).^[6]
• 1647 – one who votes.^[6]
• 1960 – voter registration (US).^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who votes, or who has the right to vote, especially in a political election.

Word family

• nonvoter
• votress

Related words

• vote
• votive
• vow

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)