Elect

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -É›kt

Origin

From Latin electus, past participle of eligere ("to pick out, choose, elect"), from e- ("out") + legere ("to pick out, pick, gather, collect, etc."); see legend.

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

Full definition of elect

Noun

1. One chosen or set apart.
2. (uncountable, theology) In Calvinist theology, one foreordained to Heaven. In other Christian theologies, someone chosen by God for salvation.
• Bible, Isaiah xlii. 1Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.
• Bible, Luke xviii. 7Shall not God avenge his won elect?

Antonyms

• reprobate

Verb

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

Related terms

• election
• elective
• elite
• select
• selection
• selective

Adjective

1. (used only after the noun) Who has been elected in a specified post, but has not yet entered office.He is the President-elect.
• 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 16She 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.
• Spensercolours quaint elect
• Bible, 1 Timothy v. 21the elect angels