elect

英文词源

elect

elect: [15] To elect somebody is literally to ‘choose them out’ of a range of possibilities. The word comes from ēlectus, the past participle of Latin ēligere ‘pick out, select’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and legere ‘gather, choose’ (source also of English collect, neglect, and select and, from its secondary meaning ‘read’, legible and lecture).

The notion of ‘choosing by ballot’ is the oldest of the verb’s senses in English. A person who may be ‘elected’ or ‘chosen’ is eligible [15] (an acquisition via French from the late Latin derivative ēligibilis). And someone who has been ‘picked out’ from the crowd is a member of the élite [18] (a borrowing of the feminine form of the past participle of French élire ‘elect’).

Also closely related is elegant.
=> collect, elegant, eligible, elite, lecture, legible, neglect, select

elect (v.)

early 15c., "to choose for an office, position, or duty," from Latin electus, past participle of eligere "to pick out, choose" (see election). Related: Elected; electing.

elect (adj.)

early 15c., of action, "voluntary;" of persons, "taken in preference to others," especially "chosen by God for some special purpose," from Latin electus, past participle of eligere "to pick out, choose" (see election). The noun meaning "those chosen by God" is from early 15c.