selection

American  

[si-lek-shuhn] / sɪˈlɛk ʃən /

noun

1. an act or instance of selecting or the state of being selected; choice.

   Antonyms:

   rejection

2. a thing or a number of things selected.

   Synonyms:

   pick, gathering, collection

3. an aggregate of things displayed for choice, purchase, use, etc.; a group from which a choice may be made.

   The store had a wide selection of bracelets.

4. Biology. any natural or artificial process that results in differential reproduction among the members of a population so that the inheritable traits of only certain individuals are passed on, or are passed on in greater proportion, to succeeding generations.

5. Linguistics.

   1. the choice of one form instead of another in a position where either can occur, as of ask instead of tell or with in the phrase ask me.

   2. the choice of one semantic or syntactic class of words in a construction, to the exclusion of others that do not occur there, as the choice of an animate object for the verb surprise.

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selection British  

/ sɪˈlɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of selecting or the state of being selected

2. a thing or number of things that have been selected

3. a range from which something may be selected

   this shop has a good selection of clothes

4. biology the natural or artificial process by which certain organisms or characters are reproduced and perpetuated in the species in preference to others See also natural selection

5. a contestant in a race chosen as likely to win or come second or third

6. 1. the act of free-selecting

   2. a tract of land acquired by free-selection

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Other Word Forms

• nonselection noun
• reselection noun
• selectional adjective
• superselection noun

Etymology

Origin of selection

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin sēlēctiōn-, stem of sēlēctiō; equivalent to select + -ion

Explanation

Selection is all about choosing. Think about a salad bar: you can make a selection from among several choices, with croutons always being a popular selection. Inside selection is the word select, "to choose." Selection means the act of choosing, the thing chosen, or the offerings to be chosen from among. Selection can also mean a passage excerpted (or selected) from a longer text. Church services often involve reading a day's selection from the Bible.

Example Sentences

Here the selection of objects brings the ebb and flow of ideas and influences vividly to life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

There was even a disco ball, an electric fan, a selection of blankets and a furry rug to complete the set-up.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

This marks Voyager’s first selection for an ISS trip.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026

The book gained wide attention, becoming an Amazon top-seller in its category and a popular selection among science-focused reading groups.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

In Darwin's scheme, the rate of change of an organism was generally fixed, while the rate of natural selection could be amplified to accelerate evolution or dampened to decelerate it.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• choice
• collection
• draft
• election
• excerpt
• option
• pick