elect

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).

noun

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.

verb

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

adj

1. (postpositive) Who has been elected in a specified post, but has not yet entered office.
   He is the President elect.
   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. 1811, Jane Austen, chapter 16, in Sense and Sensibility
2. Chosen; taken by preference from among two or more.