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Psephology is from the Greek word psēphos, meaning "pebble." (One relative of psephology is psephomancy, meaning "divination by pebbles.") Psephology merited election as the name for the work of analysts of elections, or psephologists, because pebbles were used by the ancient Greeks in voting. Similarly, the word ballot was an excellent choice for a means of voting since it is derived from balla, the Italian word for "ball," and Italians placed balls in a container to cast votes.
Examples of psephology in a Sentence
Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2021
In fact, people who have been in psephology for 50 years have never seen a party come from the mid-20s to the high 30s in a space of three weeks.
—Sarah Jaffe, New Republic, 5 June 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'psephology.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Psephology.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psephology. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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