Standard Lemma guide

by-election

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between general elections.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Coordinate term: general election

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bypoll, special election

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a special election between regular elections

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bye-election

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: election

History

Etymology

From by- (“side, secondary, ancillary”) + election.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِنْتِخَابَات تَكْمِيلِيَّة (intiḵābāt takmīliyya) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Bengali: উপনির্বাচন (uponirbacon) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Bulgarian: частични избори (častični izbori) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Catalan: elecció parcial — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Chinese Cantonese: 補選 /补选 (bou2 syun2) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Chinese Mandarin: 補選 /补选 (bǔxuǎn) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Czech: doplňovací volby — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Danish: suppleringsvalg — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Dutch: tussentijdse verkiezing — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Finnish: täydennysvaali — election to fill a vacant political office
  • French: élection partielle — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Georgian: დამატებითი არჩევნები (damaṭebiti arčevnebi) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • German: Ersatzwahl — election to fill a vacant political office
  • German: Nachwahl — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Hebrew: בחירות ביניים (b'khirót beinayim) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Hindi: उपचुनाव (upcunāv) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Hungarian: pótválasztás — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Indonesian: pemilihan sela — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Indonesian: pemilihan umum sela — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Irish: fothoghchán — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Italian: elezioni suppletive — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Italian: elezioni supplementari — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Japanese: 補欠選挙 (hoketsu senkyo) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Korean: 재보궐선거 (jaebogwolseon'geo) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Malay: pilihan raya kecil — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Norwegian Bokmål: suppleringsvalg — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: suppleringsval — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Persian: انتخابات میاندورهای (entexâbât miyândorâhi) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Polish: wybory uzupełniające — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Portuguese: eleição suplementar — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Scottish Gaelic: frith-thaghadh — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Scottish Gaelic: fo-thaghadh — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̀пунскӣ ѝзбори — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Serbo-Croatian: dòpunskī ìzbori — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Spanish: elección parcial — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Swedish: fyllnadsval — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Turkish: ara seçim — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Urdu: ضمنی انتخابات (zimnī intixābāt) — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Welsh: etholiad achlysurol — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Welsh: is-etholiad — election to fill a vacant political office
  • Yiddish: בײַוואַלן (bayvaln) — election to fill a vacant political office
Real reading context

by-election in complete knowledge articles