/ ˈplebɪsɪt; NAmE ; -saɪt/ noun
plebiscite (on sth) ( politics ) a vote by the people of a country or a region on an issue that is very important
SYN referendum :
to hold a plebiscite on the country's future system of government
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (referring to Roman history): from French plébiscite , from Latin plebiscitum , from plebs , pleb- the common people + scitum decree (from sciscere vote for). The current sense dates from the mid 19th cent.