online medical dictionary | definition of suffrage

1. A vote given in deciding a controverted question, or in the choice of a man for an office or trust; the formal expression of an opinion; assent; vote. "I ask your voices and your suffrages." (Shak)

2. Testimony; attestation; witness; approval. "Lactantius and St. Austin confirm by their suffrage the observation made by heathen writers." (Atterbury) "Every miracle is the suffrage of Heaven to the truth of a doctrine." (South)

3. A short petition, as those after the creed in matins and evensong. A prayer in general, as one offered for the faithful departed. "I firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful." (Creed of Pope Pius IV)

4. Aid; assistance.

Origin: F, fr. L. Suffragium; perhaps originally, a broken piece, a potsherd, used in voting, and fr. Sub under + the root of frangere to break. See Break.

(01 Mar 1998)