suffrago

See also: suffragò

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin suffrāgō.

Noun

suffrago

1. (zoology) The joint between the tibia and tarsus, such as the hock of a horse's hind leg or the heel of a bird.

Anagrams

• sugar off

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sufˈfra.ɡo/
• Rhymes: -aɡo
• Hyphenation: suf‧frà‧go

Verb

suffrago

1. first-person singular present indicative of suffragare

Latin

Etymology 1

This verb, its deponent version suffrāgor (“to vote for, support, favor”), and the related noun suffrāgium (“voting tablet, ballot, vote”) come from the prefix sub- (“under”) combined with an uncertain root.

One proposal derives them from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”), the root of frangō (“to break”). The semantic development might be along the same lines as in the related noun fragor (“crash, din, uproar”), with the sense "break, shatter, clash" shifting to "make clashing noises, make an uproar (in support of a candidate)" to "lend support, vote for someone".

Another proposal derives it from the same source as the noun suffrāgō (see below) and may have originally meant an ankle bone or knuckle bone.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /sufˈfraː.ɡoː/, [s̠ʊfˈfräːɡoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sufˈfra.ɡo/, [sufˈfräːɡo]

Verb

suffrāgō (present infinitive suffrāgāre, perfect active suffrāgāvī, supine suffrāgātum); first conjugation

1. to support; to vote for

Conjugation

   Conjugation of suffrāgō (first conjugation)

indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	suffrāgō	suffrāgās	suffrāgat	suffrāgāmus	suffrāgātis	suffrāgant
	imperfect	suffrāgābam	suffrāgābās	suffrāgābat	suffrāgābāmus	suffrāgābātis	suffrāgābant
	future	suffrāgābō	suffrāgābis	suffrāgābit	suffrāgābimus	suffrāgābitis	suffrāgābunt
	perfect	suffrāgāvī	suffrāgāvistī	suffrāgāvit	suffrāgāvimus	suffrāgāvistis	suffrāgāvērunt, suffrāgāvēre
	pluperfect	suffrāgāveram	suffrāgāverās	suffrāgāverat	suffrāgāverāmus	suffrāgāverātis	suffrāgāverant
	future perfect	suffrāgāverō	suffrāgāveris	suffrāgāverit	suffrāgāverimus	suffrāgāveritis	suffrāgāverint
passive	present	suffrāgor	suffrāgāris, suffrāgāre	suffrāgātur	suffrāgāmur	suffrāgāminī	suffrāgantur
	imperfect	suffrāgābar	suffrāgābāris, suffrāgābāre	suffrāgābātur	suffrāgābāmur	suffrāgābāminī	suffrāgābantur
	future	suffrāgābor	suffrāgāberis, suffrāgābere	suffrāgābitur	suffrāgābimur	suffrāgābiminī	suffrāgābuntur
	perfect	suffrāgātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	suffrāgātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	suffrāgātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	suffrāgem	suffrāgēs	suffrāget	suffrāgēmus	suffrāgētis	suffrāgent
	imperfect	suffrāgārem	suffrāgārēs	suffrāgāret	suffrāgārēmus	suffrāgārētis	suffrāgārent
	perfect	suffrāgāverim	suffrāgāverīs	suffrāgāverit	suffrāgāverīmus	suffrāgāverītis	suffrāgāverint
	pluperfect	suffrāgāvissem	suffrāgāvissēs	suffrāgāvisset	suffrāgāvissēmus	suffrāgāvissētis	suffrāgāvissent
passive	present	suffrāger	suffrāgēris, suffrāgēre	suffrāgētur	suffrāgēmur	suffrāgēminī	suffrāgentur
	imperfect	suffrāgārer	suffrāgārēris, suffrāgārēre	suffrāgārētur	suffrāgārēmur	suffrāgārēminī	suffrāgārentur
	perfect	suffrāgātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	suffrāgātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	suffrāgā	—	—	suffrāgāte	—
	future	—	suffrāgātō	suffrāgātō	—	suffrāgātōte	suffrāgantō
passive	present	—	suffrāgāre	—	—	suffrāgāminī	—
	future	—	suffrāgātor	suffrāgātor	—	—	suffrāgantor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		suffrāgāre	suffrāgāvisse	suffrāgātūrum esse	suffrāgārī	suffrāgātum esse	suffrāgātum īrī
participles		suffrāgāns	—	suffrāgātūrus	—	suffrāgātus	suffrāgandus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		suffrāgandī	suffrāgandō	suffrāgandum	suffrāgandō	suffrāgātum	suffrāgātū

Related terms

• suffrāgor
• suffrāgium

Descendants

• Catalan: sufragar
• Galician: sufragar
• Italian: suffragare
• Portuguese: sufragar
• Spanish: sufragar

Etymology 2

From sub- +‎ *frāgō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrāg- (“rump, hock, hindquarters”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break, crack, split”). Cognate with Latin braca (“trousers”).

Noun

suffrāgō f (genitive suffrāginis); third declension

1. the ham or hough, hock of a quadruped's hind leg

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	suffrāgō	suffrāginēs
genitive	suffrāginis	suffrāginum
dative	suffrāginī	suffrāginibus
accusative	suffrāginem	suffrāginēs
ablative	suffrāgine	suffrāginibus
vocative	suffrāgō	suffrāginēs

Descendants

• Catalan: sofraja, sofranya
• → English: suffrago (learned)
• Galician: sofraxe

Further reading

• “suffrago”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• suffrago in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.