elect

elect

See also: -elect

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēlēctus, past participle of ēligō (“to pick out, choose, elect”), from ē- (“out”) + legō (“to pick out, pick, gather, collect, etc.”); see legend.

Cognate to eclectic, which is via Ancient Greek rather than Latin, hence prefix ἐκ (ek), rather than e- (from ex).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɛkt/, /iːˈlɛkt/
• Hyphenation: elect

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Noun

elect (plural elects or elect)

1. One chosen or set apart.
2. (theology) In Calvinist theology, one foreordained to Heaven. In other Christian theologies, someone chosen by God for salvation.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Isaiah 42:1:

     Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 18:7:

     Shall not God avenge his won elect?

Antonyms

• reprobate

Derived terms

• president-elect

Translations

One chosen or set apart

Bulgarian: избраник (bg) m (izbranik) French: élu (fr) m, élue (fr) f Greek: εκλεκτός (el) m (eklektós), εκλεκτή (el) f (eklektí) Hebrew: נבחר‎ (he) m (niv'h`ar) Serbo-Croatian: izabranik m, izabranica f

One chosen by God

French: élu (fr) m, élue (fr) f Hebrew: נבחר‎ (he) m (niv'h`ar) Serbo-Croatian: izabranik m, izabranica f

Verb

elect (third-person singular simple present elects, present participle electing, simple past and past participle elected)

1. (transitive) To choose or make a decision (to do something)
2. (transitive) To choose (a candidate) in an election

Derived terms

• could not get elected dogcatcher
• reelect
• self-elect

 

Related terms

• election
• elective
• elegant
• eligible
• elite
• select
• selection
• selective

 

Translations

to choose or make decision

Armenian: ընտրել (hy) (əntrel) Aromanian: aleg Bulgarian: решавам, спирам се на (rešavam, spiram se na) Chinese: Mandarin: 選擇／选择 (zh) (xuǎnzé) Danish: vælge (da) Dutch: kiezen (nl), uitkiezen (nl) Esperanto: elekti Finnish: valita (fi), päättää (fi) French: choisir (fr), décider (fr) Galician: elixir (gl) German: entscheiden (de), wählen (de) Greek: διαλέγω (el) (dialégo) Japanese: 選ぶ (ja) (えらぶ, erabu) Macedonian: решава impf (rešava), реши pf (reši) Manx: reih, teih Old English: ceosan Polish: postanowić (pl) Portuguese: eleger (pt) Romanian: alege (ro), hotărî (ro) Russian: выбира́ть (ru) impf (vybirátʹ), вы́брать (ru) pf (výbratʹ) Scottish Gaelic: tagh Serbo-Croatian: odabrati (sh) Swedish: välja (sv) Turkish: seçmek (tr), saylamak (tr)

to choose in election

Arabic: اِنْتَخَبَ‎ (intaḵaba) Egyptian Arabic: انتخب‎ (intaḵab) Armenian: ընտրել (hy) (əntrel) Aromanian: aleg Belarusian: абіра́ць impf (abirácʹ), абра́ць pf (abrácʹ), выбіра́ць impf (vybirácʹ), вы́браць pf (výbracʹ) Bulgarian: избирам (bg) (izbiram) Catalan: elegir (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 選, 选 (syun2) Mandarin: 選舉／选举 (zh) (xuǎnjǔ) Czech: volit (cs) Danish: vælge (da) Dutch: verkiezen (nl) Esperanto: elekti Finnish: valita (fi) French: élire (fr) Galician: elixir (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: wählen (de) Greek: εκλέγω (el) (eklégo) Hungarian: választ (hu) Ido: elektar (io) Irish: togh Italian: eleggere (it) Japanese: 選挙する (ja) (せんきょする, senkyo suru) Khmer: បោះឆ្នោត (bɑh chnaot) Korean: 선거하다 (ko) (seon'geohada) Latin: ēligō, dīligō, legō (la) Lao: ເລືອກຕັ້ງ (lư̄ak tang) Macedonian: изгласува impf (izglasuva), изгласа pf (izglasa) Manx: reih, teih Maori: pōti (mi) Norman: êlithe Northern Thai: ᩃᩮᩥᩬᨠᨲᩢ᩠᩶ᨦ Oromo: filuu Polish: wybierać (pl) Portuguese: eleger (pt) Romanian: alege (ro) Russian: выбира́ть (ru) impf (vybirátʹ), вы́брать (ru) pf (výbratʹ); избира́ть (ru) impf (izbirátʹ), избра́ть (ru) pf (izbrátʹ) Scottish Gaelic: tagh Serbo-Croatian: izabrati (sh) Spanish: elegir (es) Swedish: välja (sv) Thai: เลือกตั้ง (th) (lʉ̂ʉak-dtâng) Turkish: seçmek (tr), saylamak (tr) Ukrainian: обира́ти (uk) impf (obyráty), обра́ти pf (obráty), вибира́ти impf (vybyráty), ви́брати pf (výbraty) Vietnamese: bầu (vi), tuyển cử (vi), bầu cử (vi)

to elect — see choose

Adjective

elect (not comparable)

1. (postpositive) Who has been elected in a specified post, but has not yet entered office.

   He is the President elect.

   • 1811, Jane Austen, chapter 16, in Sense and Sensibility:

     She began almost to feel a dislike of Edward; and it ended, as every feeling must end with her, by carrying back her thoughts to Willoughby, whose manners formed a contrast sufficiently striking to those of his brother elect.

2. Chosen; taken by preference from among two or more.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     colours quaint elect

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Timothy 5:21:

     the elect angels

Translations

who has been elected

Bulgarian: избран (bg) (izbran) Danish: valgt, udvalgt (religious) Finnish: vastavalittu, tuleva (fi) French: élu (fr) Galician: electo m German: gewählt (de) Greek: εκλεγμένος (el) (eklegménos) Macedonian: избран (izbran) Norwegian: valgt Norwegian Bokmål: valgt Norwegian Nynorsk: valt Portuguese: eleito (pt) m Russian: и́збранный (ru) (ízbrannyj) Spanish: electo (es) Swahili: uteuzi (sw) Swedish: vald (sv) Vietnamese: tân cử (vi) Yiddish: אױסגעקליבן‎ (oysgeklibn)

Further reading

• elect in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• elect in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911