Choice

How to spell choice

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce choice

What does choice mean?

1. nounAn act of selecting between options, or the range of options available.
2. adjectiveOf very high quality; specially selected.

Choice in a sentence

• noun

  The menu offered a wide choice of vegetarian dishes.

• adjective

  The butcher set aside the most choice cuts of beef for regular customers.

• noun

  Choosing a mortgage was the hardest choice they made all year.

• adjective

  The gallery displayed a few choice pieces from the private collection.

Where does choice come from?

Language of origin: French

Choice came into English in the 1200s from the Old French word chois, which meant the act of choosing or the thing chosen. That French noun was built on the verb choisir, meaning to choose or to perceive, which itself traces back to a Germanic root carried into the Romance languages, related to the same ancient root that gave English its native verb 'choose'. Over time English borrowed the French noun even though it already had the home-grown verb, so 'choose' and 'choice' grew up as a pair from related but separate ancestors. The spelling kept the French 'oi' vowel cluster and the final silent 'e', which is why writers sometimes pause over whether it is 'choise' or 'choice'; the 'ce' ending is the surviving French spelling. By the 1500s the word had also developed the sense of 'excellent' or 'select', as in choice cuts of meat, reflecting the idea of something specially picked out.

How the word is built

• chois (Old French: act of choosing)
• -e (silent terminal vowel retained in English spelling)