election

Etymology

From Middle English eleccioun, eleccion, from Anglo-Norman eleccioun, from Latin ēlectiōn-, stem of ēlectiō (“choice, selection”), from ēligō (“I pluck out, I choose”).

noun

1. A process of choosing a leader, members of parliament, councillors, or other representatives by popular vote.
   The parliamentary election(s) will be held in March.
   How did you vote in (UK also: at) the last election?
   That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. November 7, 2012, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times
2. The choice of a leader or representative by popular vote.
   The election of John Smith was due to his broad appeal.
3. An option that is selected.
   W-4 election
4. (archaic) Any conscious choice.
   The predestinative force of a free agent's own will in certain absolute acts, determinations, or elections, and in respect of which acts it is one either with the divine or the devilish will; and if the former, the conclusions to be drawn from God's goodness, faithfulness, and spiritual presence; these supply grounds of argument of a very different character […] 1830, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on The Pilgrim's Progress
5. (theology) In Calvinism, God's predestination of saints including all of the elect.
6. (obsolete) Those who are elected.