select
[si-lekt]
- to choose in preference to another or others; pick out.
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- to make a choice; pick.
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- chosen in preference to another or others; selected.
- choice; of special value or excellence.
- careful or fastidious in selecting; discriminating.
- carefully or fastidiously chosen; exclusive: a select group of friends.
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Origin of select
1555–65; < Latin sēlēctus (past participle of sēligere to gather apart), equivalent to sē- se- + leg(ere) to gather, choose + -tus past participle suffix
Synonym study
1. See choose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for select
Contemporary Examples
All it needs is one more “pipe” to select and transmit the crucial information.
You can even buy containers of their Cereal Milk in select stores.
And, second, we already use sortition to select an important deliberative body, the trial jury.
Until recently, being published was a pleasure afforded only to a select few.
He went through his entire database of over 70,000 images to select pieces for the Arizona show.
Historical Examples
It is not necessarily his own religious belief that he will select.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
He then went on to give a number of examples in point, of which we select a few.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
"You go straight ahead and select any location you like," said Marian.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
Only that small, select number who were above, and led all the rest.
The divine appetite once fostered, let it select its own food.
Alice, or The Mysteries, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
select
- to choose (someone or something) in preference to another or others
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- Also: selected chosen in preference to another or others
- of particular quality or excellence
- limited as to membership or entrya select gathering
- careful in making a choice
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin sēligere to sort, from sē- apart + legere to choose
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for select
adj.
1560s, from Latin selectus, past participle of seligere "choose out, single out, select; separate, cull," from se- "apart" (see secret (n.)) + legere "to gather, select" (see lecture (n.)). The noun meaning "a selected person or thing, that which is choice" is recorded from c.1600. New England selectman first recorded 1640s.
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v.
1560s, from select (adj.) or from Latin selectus. Related: Selected; selecting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper