*ondo*

n. a remote and undeveloped area; -- sometimes used deprecatingly.
Syn. -- backwoods, back country, hinterland. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. 1. a braided cord made by hand by young scouts, used for various purposes, such as a hat cord or a key chain.

2. a useless, wasteful, or impractical project; -- especially one authorized by a government agency as a favor to partisans, to employ unemployed people, or in return for corrupt payments. [ PJC ]

v. to do useless, wasteful, or trivial work. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Zool.) a large vulture (Gymnogyps californianus), also called California vulture. In the late 20th century it is classed as an endangered species. The California condor used to number in the thousands and ranged along the entire west coast of the United States. By 1982 only 21 to 24 individuals could be identified in the wild. A breeding program was instituted, and by 1996 over 50 birds were alive in captivity. As of 1997, fewer than ten of the bred birds had been reintroduced into the wild. [ PJC ]

n. one of the units in a condominium.
Syn. -- condominium. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. [ A punning corruption of concur. ] To concur; to agree. [ Burlesque ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word appears in early dictionaries as a synonym for the word agree; thus. “Agree; concurre, cohere, condog, condescend.” Cockeram. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Expressing condolence. Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Condoled p. pr. & vb. n. Condoling. ] [ L. condolere; con- + dolere to feel pain, grieve. See Doleful. ] To express sympathetic sorrow; to grieve in sympathy; -- followed by with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your friends would have cause to rejoice, rather than condole with you. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To lament or grieve over. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Condolence. “A pitiful condolement.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sorrow; mourning; lamentation. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. condoléance. ] Expression of sympathy with another in sorrow or grief. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their congratulations and their condolences. Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

A special mission of condolence. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who condoles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. one of the units in a condominium{ 2 }.
Syn. -- condo. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a complex of dwelling units (as an apartment house) in which each unit is individually owned (as contrasted with rented). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. condonatio a giving away. ] 1. The act of condoning or pardoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Forgiveness, either express or implied, by a husband of his wife or by a wife of her husband, for a breach of marital duty, as adultery, with an implied condition that the offense shall not be repeated. Bouvier. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Condoned p. pr. & vb. n. Condoning. ] [ L. condonare, -donatum, to give up, remit, forgive; con- + donare to give. See Donate. ] 1. To pardon; to forgive. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fraud which he had either concocted or condoned. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

It would have been magnanimous in the men then in power to have overlooked all these things, and, condoning the politics, to have rewarded the poetry of Burns. J. C. Shairp.

[ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) To pardon; to overlook the offense of; esp., to forgive for a violation of the marriage law; -- said of either the husband or the wife. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. condor, fr. Peruvian cuntur. ] 1. (Zool.) A very large bird of the Vulture family (Sarcorhamphus gryphus), found in the most elevated parts of the Andes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The California vulture (Gymnogyps californianus), also called California condor. [ Local, U. S. ] In the late 20th century it is classed as an endangered species. The California condor used to number in the thousands and ranged along the entire west coast of the United States. By 1982 only 21 to 24 individuals could be identified in the wild. A breeding program was instituted, and by 1996 over 50 birds were alive in captivity. As of 1997, fewer than ten of the bred birds had been reintroduced into the wild. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

3. A gold coin of Chile, bearing the figure of a condor, and equal to twenty pesos. It contains 10.98356 grams of gold, and is equivalent to about $7.29. Called also colon. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. A gold coin of Colombia equivalent to about $9.65. It is no longer coined. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

pos>prop. n. Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, was a celebrated French philosopher and mathematician, Born at Ribemont, near St. Quentin, France, Sept. 17, 1743: died at Bourg-la-Reine, near Paris, March 28, 1794. . His most important work was on probability and the philosophy of mathematics. He was a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, and its president 1792, and a deputy to the Convention in 1792, where he sided with the Girondists. After the fall of the latter he was accused (Oct. 3, 1793) with Brissot, and went into hiding in Paris for eight months to save his life. He found shelter with a Madame Vernet. He then left the city, but was arrested at Clamart, near Bourg-la-Reine, and imprisoned. The next morning he was found dead, probably from poison. He contributed to the “Encyclopédie, ” and wrote “Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain” (1794), and various mathematical works.
His most important mathematical treatise was “Essay on the Application of Analysis to the Probability of Majority Decisions” (1785), an extremely important work in the development of the theory of probability. His work in probability led him to a study of voting methods, and laid the groundwork for the various ranked-pairs voting methods, which are often referred to as Condorcet's Method (for which see here. Robert D. Hilliard + Century Dictionary, 1906 [ PJC ]

Condorcet's method is one of several pairwise methods, which are great methods for electing people in single-seat elections (president, governor, mayor, etc.). Condorcet's method is named after the 18th century election theorist who invented it. Unlike most methods which make you choose the lesser of two evils, Condorcet's method and other pairwise methods let you rank the candidates in the order in which you would see them elected. The way the votes are tallied is by computing the results of separate pairwise elections between all of the candidates, and the winner is the one that wins a majority in all of the pairwise elections.
The best result of this is that if there is Candidate A on one extreme who pulls 40% of the vote, Candidate B in the middle who only pulls 20% of the vote, and Candidate C on the other extreme who pulls 40% of the vote, Candidate B will get elected as a compromise. Why? Because in a two-way contest between A and B, B would win with 60% of the vote, and in a two-way contest between B and C, B would also win with 60% of the vote. (Note that if B is a loony billionaire, he might not be able to win separate pairwise elections against anyone, and this would be reflected with Condorcet's method.)
Condorcet's method lets voters mark their sincere wishes for who they would like to win the election, without having to consider strategy ("I'd vote for Candidate B, but I'm afraid of wasting my vote."). It's really just a logical extension of majority rule when more than two choices are involved. Other pairwise methods, such as Copeland's method and Smith's method, have other desirable characteristics. The best of the pairwise methods is something that is quite debatable.
Wait, I've heard of this before...
You may have. However, there are many methods other methods similar to this one (though in my opinion, inferior), so don't be so sure. In order to be fair, here are a couple of those other methods:
* Majority preference voting (MPV) -- related to PV. Like PV, the voter simply ranks candidates in an order of preference (e. 1. Perot 2. Clinton 3. Bush). The candidate with the least number of first place votes is eliminated, and their votes are "transferred" to their 2nd choice until a candidate has a majority. It is frequently advocated and is better than our current system, but still has some nasty properties (like possibly knocking compromise candidates out of the running early). MPV is actually in use in Australia, among other places. Also known as Hare's Method.
* Approval -- Voters are allowed to vote for all candidates they approve. For example, Bush-Yes Perot-No Clinton-Yes. The candidate with the highest number of "yes" votes wins. For a more complete explanation, see here.
Rob Lanphier (from https://web.archive.org/web/20050722235546/http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/politics/condorcet.html). [ PJC ]

‖n.; pl. Condottieri [ It., captain. ] A military adventurer of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, who sold his services, and those of his followers, to any party in any contest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any dog trained to hunt raccoons. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. fondant flux. ] (Metal.) A large copper vessel used for hot amalgamation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. frondosus leafy. ] (Bot.) (a) Frond bearing; resembling a frond; having a simple expansion not separable into stem and leaves. (b) Leafy. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Frondose. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It., dim. of gonda a gondola; cf. LL. gandeia a kind of boat, Gr. &unr_; a drinking vessel; said to be a Persian word; cf. F. gondole gondola, cup. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A long, narrow boat with a high prow and stern, used in the canals of Venice. A gondola is usually propelled by one or two oarsmen who stand facing the prow, or by poling. A gondola for passengers has a small open cabin amidships, for their protection against the sun or rain. A sumptuary law of Venice required that gondolas should be painted black, and they are customarily so painted now. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A flat-bottomed boat for freight. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A long platform car, either having no sides or with very low sides, used on railroads. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Aëronautics) An elongated car under a dirigible. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ It. gondoletta, dim. of gondola. ] A small gondola. T. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It. gondoliere: cf. F. gondolier. ] A man who rows a gondola. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Hungarian breed of large powerful shaggy-coated white dog, used also as guard dog. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The capital city of England. [ 1913 Webster ]

London paste (Med.), a paste made of caustic soda and unslacked lime; -- used as a caustic to destroy tumors and other morbid enlargements. --
London pride. (Bot.) (a) A garden name for Saxifraga umbrosa, a hardy perennial herbaceous plant, a native of high lands in Great Britain. (b) A name anciently given to the Sweet William. Dr. Prior. --
London rocket (Bot.), a cruciferous plant (Sisymbrium Irio) which sprung up in London abundantly on the ruins of the great fire of 1667. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A native or inhabitant of London. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A characteristic of Londoners; a mode of speaking peculiar to London. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To impart to (one) a manner or character like that which distinguishes Londoners. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To imitate the manner of the people of London. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A neutral tint given to spectacles, shade glasses for optical instruments, etc., which reduces the intensity without materially changing the color of the transmitted light. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Bot.) The Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The country inhabited by the Mormons; the Mormon people. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A coarse umbelliferous plant (Ligusticum actaeifolium) with a large aromatic root. It is found chiefly in the Alleghany region. Also called Angelico. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. onde wave, L. unda + -gram. ] (Elec.) The record of an ondograph. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. onde wave, L. unda + -graph. ] (Elec.) An instrument for autographically recording the wave forms of varying currents, esp. rapidly varying alternating currents. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. onde wave, L. unda + -mater. ] An electric wave meter. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖a. [ F., p.pr. of ondoyer to undulate, fr. onde wave, L. unda. ] (Art) Wavy; having the surface marked by waves or slightly depressed furrows; as, ondoyant glass. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ It. rondò, fr. F. rondeau. See Rondeau. ] 1. (Mus.) A composition, vocal or instrumental, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains. “The Rondo-form was the earliest and most frequent definite mold for musical construction.” Grove. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Poetry) See Rondeau, 1. [ 1913 Webster ]