Etymology
1. c.1290,
polle "hair of the head," from M.L.G. or M.Du.
pol "head, top." Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from notion of "counting heads;" meaning "survey of public opinion" is first recorded 1902. The verb meaning "to take the votes of" also is first recorded 1625.
Pollster is 1939. 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).
2. From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (“orb, round object, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”).
3. Akin to Scots pow (“head, crown, scalp, skull”), Saterland Frisian pol (“round, full, brimming”, adjective), German Low German Polle, Poll (“round object, ball”), German Low German Poller (“head, tree-top, bulb”), Danish puld (“crown of a hat”), Swedish dialectal pull (“head”).
4. Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from the notion of "counting heads".
Verbs referencing "poll"
Dutch
pollen.