SUFFRAGE (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. suffragium)  , the right or the exercise of the right of voting in political affairs; in a more general sense, an expression of opinion, assent or approval; in ecclesiastical use, the short intercessory prayers in litanies spoken or sung by the people as distinguished from those of the priest or minister . (See REPRESENTATION; VOTE AND VOTING, and REGISTRATION: and, for the Women's Suffrage Movement, WOMEN: § Political Rights.) The etymology of the Latin word suffragium has been much discussed . It is usually referred to sub- and the root of frangere, to break, and its original meaning must thus have been a piece of broken tile or a potsherd' on which the names or initials of the candidates were inscribed and used as a voting tablet or tabella . There is, however, no direct evidence that this was ever the practice in the case of voting upon legislation in the assembly (see W . Corssen, Ueber Aussprache, &c., der Lateinischen Sprache, i . 397, and Mommsen, Romische Geschichte, Iii . 412 11.1.) .