Selecting

How to spell selecting

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce selecting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does selecting mean?

1. verbCarefully choosing one or more things or people from a larger group.

Selecting in a sentence

• The manager spent the morning selecting candidates for the second interview.

• Selecting the right paint colour took her several afternoons.

Where does selecting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb seligere, meaning 'to choose out' or 'to pick apart', which was formed from se- 'apart, aside' and legere 'to gather, pick, or read'. The past participle selectus gave English the adjective and verb 'select', which appeared in the late 1500s with the sense of choosing carefully from a wider group. The present participle 'selecting' simply adds the -ing ending to that verb. The same legere root sits behind a whole family of familiar words, including 'collect', 'elect', and even 'lecture', all of which involve gathering or choosing in some way. Knowing that the core is lect, meaning to choose, helps explain why the word has a single l and a clean ct before the ending.

How the word is built

• se- (apart)
• lect (from Latin legere: to gather, choose)
• -ing (present participle suffix)