1. a. The state or dignity of a German Elector. b. The dominions of an Elector.
1675. Lond. Gaz., No. 983/3. Imperialists have now quite cleared the Electorate of Cologne.
1721. Swift, Corr., Wks. 1841, II. 654. It was a Whiggish action to honour duke Schomberg, who was … in the service of that electorate.
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), III. xvi. 241. The abdication of the electorate.
1834. Macaulay, Chatham, Ess. (1854), I. 308. The whole electorate was in the hands of the French.
2. The whole body of electors.
1879. O’Connor, Beaconsfield, 534. The entire urban electorate of England and Wales … would only be increased from 440,000 to 634,000.
1885. Manch. Exam., 15 May, 5/1. The arguments … are such as will tell upon the new electorate.
