Etymologically
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voter

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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)