ELECT
What does "ELECT" mean?
To choose someone for a position or office by voting.
Meanings
- To select a person for office or membership by vote. The town will elect a new mayor in the spring.
- To choose or decide to do something. She elected to stay home rather than risk the storm. formal
- Chosen for a position but not yet officially installed (used after the noun). The president-elect met with the outgoing cabinet.
Did you know?
- Elect shares its Latin root 'legere' (to choose) with elite, eligible, and select - to elect someone is, at the root, to pick them out of a crowd.
Word origin
From Latin 'electus', past participle of 'eligere' (to pick out, choose), from 'e-' (out) plus 'legere' (to gather, choose); the same root gives 'eligible' and 'elite'.
Remember it
ELECT = 'e-' (out) + 'lect' (choose): you choose someone OUT of the field.
A little poem
One folded slip, one hand, one quiet box-
and a crowd becomes a choice that knocks.
couplet
Wordplay
- The president-elect hadn't been sworn in yet, so technically he was still in the 'elect' phase - chosen, but not yet collected.
What it teaches
To elect is to take responsibility for the result, not just to prefer an option.
Quick facts
What does ELECT mean?
To choose someone for a position or office by voting.
Is ELECT a valid word?
Yes — ELECT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is ELECT?
ELECT has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does ELECT come from?
From Latin 'electus', past participle of 'eligere' (to pick out, choose), from 'e-' (out) plus 'legere' (to gather, choose); the same root gives 'eligible' and 'elite'.
What can ELECT teach us?
To elect is to take responsibility for the result, not just to prefer an option.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.