to choose or select by vote, as for an office.
to elect a mayor.
to determine in favor of (a method, course of action, etc.).
to pick out; choose.
First-year students may elect French, Spanish, or German.
Theology. (of God) to select for divine mercy or favor, especially for salvation.
selected, as for an office, but not yet inducted (usually used in combination following a noun).
the governor-elect.
select or choice.
an elect circle of artists.
Theology. chosen by God, especially for eternal life.
a person or the persons chosen or worthy to be chosen.
Theology. a person or persons chosen by God, especially for favor or salvation.
electric.
electrical.
electrician.
electricity.
(tr) to choose (someone) to be (a representative or a public official) by voting
they elected him Mayor
to select; choose
to elect to die rather than surrender
(tr) (of God) to select or predestine for the grace of salvation
(immediately postpositive) voted into office but not yet installed
the president elect
chosen or choice; selected or elite
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the elect
Christianity
selected or predestined by God to receive salvation; chosen
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the elect
See choose.
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin ēlēctus “chosen” (past participle of ēligere ), equivalent to ē- “out of, from” + leg- “choose” + -tus past participle suffix; see e- 1, elite
To elect is to choose. A group of citizens may elect the next president, or you may just elect to stay home during the blizzard. Most famously, in the political sense, elect means to choose a person for public office, usually via an election. It also means to choose a particular course in life of major consequence. You probably don't elect to drink Pepsi over Coke, but you do elect to study a particular major at college, or sign up for military service.
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Appeared in the December 15, 2025, print edition as 'Chile Set to Elect Right-Wing Leader'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
In 2012 it was called Americans Elect, and in 2008 it was Unity08.
From Slate • Apr. 9, 2024
Erin, who became a Lighthouse Associate Elect at the same time as Jeff, tells a similar story.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2023
But the Columbia Missourian did it for him on May 14, 1980, with a front-page story headlined: “Bunceton Residents Elect Mayor Who Is a Respected Homosexual.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2022
There was too much singing, and she didn’t see how even the Elect could survive for very long the celestial laziness which was promised.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
