suffrages

Noun

suffrage (usually uncountable, plural suffrages)

1. (usually) The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election.
   • universal suffrage, women's suffrage, negro suffrage
   1. (US, usually) The right of women to vote.
      • What role did the House of Commons play in the political life of the nation in the aftermath of suffrage? There is surprisingly little historiography to help answer the question.2013 May 28, Julie V. Gottlieb, Richard Toye, The Aftermath of Suffrage: Women, Gender, and Politics in Britain, 1918-1945, Springer, →ISBN
2. (countable, usually) A vote in deciding a particular question.
   • But the President himself says that " upon him has been devolved, by the constitution, and the suffrages of the American people, the duty of superintending the operation of the executive departments of the Government,1833, Henry Clay, edited by Thomas Hart Benton, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, published 1859, page 213
3. (countable, usually) A prayer, for example a prayer offered for the faithful dead.
   • I firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.1564, Pope Pius IV (unknown translator), Creed of Pope Pius IV
4. (countable, usually) A short petition, as those after the creed in matins and evensong.
   • Lastly, in this suffrage, we intercede for prisoners and captives; we "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them."1904, John Newton McCormick, The litany and the life: a series of studies in the litany ..., page 222
5. (usually) Aid, intercession.
   • Retoricyons and oratours, in freſhe humanyte
     Support parrot, I pray you wᵗ your ſuffrage ornate
     Of confuſe tantum, auoydynge the chekmatec. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott

See all 7 meanings of suffrage