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PlainSpell

ballot

bal·lot/ˈbælət/noun, verb

ballot is spelled B-A-L-L-O-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (bal·lot). It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ballot means “A small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ballot is ballots.

How many letters and syllables are in ballot?

Letters6: B-A-L-L-O-T
Syllables2: bal·lot
In writing11 times per million words; the 6,456th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ballot?

Ballot appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ballot?

  • UK /ˈbælət/
  • US /ˈbælət/

Ballot has 2 syllables, split bal·lot in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-ballot.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ballot.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with ballot?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ballot from its last stressed vowel (/ælət/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of ballot

  • ballots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • balloting participle, present
  • balloted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ballot mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.

  2. 2

    The process of voting, especially in secret; a round of voting.

    July 1836, A. B. (initials of author), London and Westminster Review Article XI, Bribery and Intimidation at Elections the insufficiency of the ballot

  3. 3

    The total of all the votes cast in an election.

  4. 4

    USA list of candidates running for office; a ticket.

verb

  1. 1

    To vote or decide by ballot.

    to ballot for a candidate

  2. 2

    To draw lots.

  3. 3

    To invite to vote on a proposal.

    The trade union balloted its members for strike action.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ballot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbulletin de vote, bulletin (paper used for vote-casting – see also ballot…), votation (process of voting)
GermanStimmzettel (paper used for vote-casting – see also ballot…), Abstimmung (process of voting)
Portuguesecédula eleitoral, boletim (paper used for vote-casting – see also ballot…), votação (process of voting), lista de candidatos (list of candidates)
Spanishpapeleta de voto, balota, boleta (paper used for vote-casting – see also ballot…), elecciones, votación (process of voting), candidatura (list of candidates)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ballot come from?

Borrowed from Italian balota (obsolete), ballotta (“small ball, especially one used to register a vote”), from balla (“bale, bundle”) + -otta (suffix forming diminutive nouns); or from Middle French balote (obsolete), ballotte (“small ball used to register a vote”) (also compare Middle French balotiage, French ballottage (“second ballot, runoff”)); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *ballu (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ballot