Selected
verbChose something or someone carefully from a larger group, in the past.
How to spell selected
8 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce selected
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does selected mean?
- verbChose something or someone carefully from a larger group, in the past.
- adjectiveCarefully chosen as the best or most suitable from a wider set.
Selected in a sentence
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verb
The panel selected three finalists from over two hundred applicants.
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adjective
The offer is available only at selected stores nationwide.
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verb
She selected a quiet hotel near the conference centre for the trip.
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adjective
A selected group of investors received the early report.
Where does selected come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word descends from the Latin verb seligere, meaning 'to choose out' or 'to pick apart from the rest', which was built from se- 'apart, aside' and legere 'to gather, pick or read'. The Romans formed its past participle as selectus, literally 'chosen out', and that form is the direct ancestor of the modern adjective and verb. English adopted 'select' in the sixteenth century, at first describing things deliberately set apart for their quality, and the regular '-ed' ending was then attached to give the past tense and the participle 'selected'. The same legere root quietly sits inside a whole family of English words, including 'collect' (gather together), 'elect' (choose out) and even 'lecture' (a reading), which helps explain why the spelling keeps that distinctive 'lect' in the middle. Because the first vowel is an unstressed schwa, writers sometimes hesitate over it, but remembering the 'se-' (apart) prefix keeps the opening steady.
How the word is built
- se- (apart)
- lect (from legere: to gather, choose)
- -ed (past-tense/participle suffix)
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