eclectic

Etymology

From French éclectique, from Ancient Greek ἐκλεκτικός (eklektikós, “selective”), from ἐκλέγω (eklégō, “I pick, choose”), from ἐκ (ek, “out, from”) + λέγω (légō, “I choose, count”). Cognate to elect.

adj

1. Selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
   Chunder Sen and the Progressive Brahmists broke entirely with Hinduism...and he selected from the scriptures of all creeds what seemed best in them for instruction and for worship. […] It is an eclectic religion: it seeks to select what is good from all religions, and it has become the latest evidence that no eclectic religion can ever influence large numbers of men. 1893, John Robson, Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity, pages 211, 214
2. Unrelated and unspecialized; heterogeneous.
   All members of the Hominoidea, apes and man, show an eclectic taste in food but select, from a wide range of possibilities, only a few to provide the bulk of their diet. 1983, Peter J. Wilson, Man, the Promising Primate: The Conditions of Human Evolution, page 140
   Colvin said Obama has an eclectic taste in music, listening to everything from Indonesian flute music to OutKast to Motown. 2006, W. Frederick Zimmerman, Should Barack Obama Be President?, page 153
   The Austrians concentrated their entire armored formation into the 1st Division; the 2nd Division consisted solely of the wooden ship of the line Kaiser, looking incredibly out of place in a battle of ironclads, along with five frigates; and the 3rd Division had an eclectic collection of smaller gunboats and armed merchantmen. 26 September 2018, Drachinifel, 2:30 from the start, in The Battle of Lissa - Special, archived from the original on 2023-08-09

noun

1. Someone who selects according to the eclectic method.