polled

The word 'polled' originates from the Middle English noun 'pol' or 'polle', meaning 'head' or 'top of the head'. This term is likely of Low German or Middle Dutch origin, related to words like 'pol' meaning 'head' or 'hair of the head'. The semantic journey is direct: to 'poll' an animal originally meant to cut the hair on its head or to cut off its horns, leading to the adjective 'polled' for hornless livestock. Concurrently, the idea of counting or listing people by their heads (as in a 'head count') gave rise to the verb 'to poll' in the sense of registering votes or opinions, from which the participial adjective 'polled' (as in 'the polled voters') naturally follows. Thus, a single concrete concept—the human or animal head—logically branched into the modern, more abstract meanings related to hornlessness and opinion-gathering.

The word 'polled' is a past tense/past participle verb form and adjective derived from the simplex root 'poll'. The root 'poll' is of Middle English origin, referring to the head or the top of the head. The suffix '-ed' is a productive English suffix used to form past tenses, past participles, and adjectives.