Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Plebiscite \Pleb"i*scite\, n. [F. pl['e]biscite, fr. L.
   plebiscitum.]
   A vote by universal male suffrage; especially, in France, a
   popular vote, as first sanctioned by the National
   Constitution of 1791. [Written also {plebiscit}.]

         Plebiscite we have lately taken, in popular use, from
         the French.                              --Fitzed.
                                                  Hall.

Source : WordNet®

plebiscite
     n : a vote by the electorate determining public opinion on a
         question of national importance