From Middle English pol, polle , probably from or else cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pole, polle, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl-, from Proto-Indo-European *bew-.
Akin to Scots pow ("head, crown, skalp, skull"), Saterland Frisian pol ("round, full, brimming"), Low German polle ("head, tree-top, bulb"), Danish puld ("crown of a hat"), Swedish dialectal pull. Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from notion of "counting heads".
Perhaps a shortening of Polly, a common name for pet parrots.
From Ancient Greek πολύς ("the many, the masses")
Modern English dictionary
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