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Origin and history of select

select(adj.)

1560s, "chosen on account of special excellence or fitness," from Latin selectus, past participle of seligere "choose out, single out, select; separate, cull," from se- "apart" (see se-) + legere "to gather, select" (from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather").

"Carefully picked," hence "choice, of special excellence" (by 1580s). Related: Selectly; selectness. The noun meaning "a selected person or thing, that which is choice" is recorded from c. 1600.

select(v.)

"to single out one or more from a number of things of the same kind, choose in preference to another or others," 1560s, from select (adj.) or from Latin selectus. Related: Selected; selecting.

also from 1560s

Entries linking to select

preselect(v.)

also pre-select, "select beforehand or in advance," 1856, from pre- "before" + select (v.). Related: Preselected; preselecting.

selection(n.)

1620s, "act of selecting, action of choosing, fact of being selected or chosen," from Latin selectionem (nominative selectio) "a choosing out, choice, selection," noun of action from past-participle stem of seligere "choose out, single out, select; separate, cull" (see select (adj.)).

The meaning "thing selected, a number of things chosen, a particular choice" is from 1805. The biological sense of "separation of those forms of life which are to survive and reproduce from those which are not" is by 1837 in reference to systematic breeding of plants and animals by humans (methodical selection), hence its extended use by Darwin (1857) in reference to the results of the impersonal agency of nature and time (natural selection). French sélection is a 19c. borrowing from English.

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choose
Old English ceosan "choose, seek out, select from two or more; decide, test, taste, try; accept, approve" (class II strong verb; past tense ceas, past participle coren), from Proto-Germanic *keus- (source also of Old Frisian kiasa, Old Saxon kiosan, Dutch kiezen, Old High German
take
Middle English taken, from late Old English tacan "to grip, seize by force, lay hold of," from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, past participle tekinn; also compare Swedish ta, past participle tagit). This is reconstructed to
choice
mid-14c., "that which is choice," from choice (adj.) blended with earlier chois (n.) "action of selecting" (c. 1300); "power of choosing" (early 14c.), "the person or thing chosen" (late 14c.), from Old French chois "one's choice; fact of having a choice" (12c., Modern French cho
cull
mid-14c., "choose, select, pick; collect and gather the best things from a number or quantity," especially with reference...to literature, from Old French cuiler "collect, gather, pluck, select" (12c., Modern French cueillir), from Latin colligere..."gather together, collect," originally "choose, select" (see collect)....Meaning "select livestock according to quality" is from 1889; notion of "select and kill (animals)," usually in the name...
excerpt
"to take or cull out" a passage in a written or printed work, "select, cite, extract," early 15c....from a book"), from Latin excerptus, past participle of excerpere "pluck out, pick out, extract," figuratively "choose, select...
elite
"a choice or select body, the best part," 1823, from French élite "selection, choice," from Old French eslite (12c.), fem...
diligent
diligere "single out, value highly, esteem, prize, love; aspire to, be content with, appreciate," originally "to pick out, select...
prize
"that which is obtained or offered as the reward of exertion or contest; reward or symbol of victory," spelling alteration of Middle English prise (c. 1300 in this sense), from Old French pris "price, value, worth; reward" (see price (n.)). Figuratively, "anything worth striving
specify
early 14c., specifien, "to speak, make plain, say" (intransitive); mid-14c., transitive, "to name (someone or something) explicitly," from Old French specifier, especefier (13c.) and directly from Late Latin specificare "mention particularly," from specificus (see specific). Rela
echoic
1880; see echo (n.) + -ic. A word from the OED. Onomatopoeia, in addition to its awkwardness, has neither associative nor etymological application to words imitating sounds. It means word-making or word-coining and is strictly as applicable to Comte's altruisme as to cuckoo. Ech

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