poll

pronunciation

How to pronounce poll in British English: UK [pəʊl] word uk audio image

How to pronounce poll in American English: US [poʊl] word us audio image

Noun:

an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people
the top of the head
the part of the head between the ears
a tame parrot
the counting of votes (as in an election)
Verb:

get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions
vote in an election at a polling station
get the votes of
convert into a pollard

Word Origin

poll: poll: [13] ‘Head’ is the original and central meaning of poll, from which all its modern uses have derived. The ‘voting’ sort of poll, for instance, which emerged in the 17th century, is etymologically a counting of ‘heads’, and the poll tax is a ‘per capita’ tax. The verb poll originally meant ‘cut someone’s hair’, a clear extension of the notion of ‘top’ or ‘head’ (the derived pollard [16] denotes an ‘animal with its horns removed’ or a ‘tree with its top branches cut off’); this later developed to ‘cut evenly across’, which is what the poll of deed poll means (originally it was a legal agreement cut evenly across, signifying that only one person was party to it – agreements made between two or more people were cut with a wavy line).=> pollard

poll (n.): "head," early 14c., polle "hair of the head; piece of fur from the head of an animal," also "head," from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch pol "head, top." Sense extended early 14c. to "person, individual." Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1620s, from notion of "counting heads;" meaning "survey of public opinion" is first recorded 1902. Poll tax, literally "head tax," is from 1690s. Literal use in English tends toward the part of the head where the hair grows.

poll (v.1): "to take the votes of," 1620s, from poll (n.). Related: Polled; polling. A deed poll "deed executed by one party only," is from earlier verbal meaning "cut the hair of," because the deed was cut straight rather than indented (see indent).

poll (v.2): "to cut, trim," late 14c., "to cut short the hair" (of an animal or person), from poll (n.). Of trees or plants from 1570s. Related: Polled; polling.

Poll: fem. proper name, short for Polly. Noted from 1620s as a parrot's name.