Electee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Someone who has been chosen or selected for a position, honor, or role
2. A person appointed or designated through a voting or selection process
3. An individual who has been picked to hold an office or receive a distinction

Etymology: "Electee" is built from "elect" and the suffix "-ee," a combination that English has used for centuries to name the person on the receiving end of an action. The "-ee" ending, borrowed from French, typically marks someone who is acted upon: an employee is someone employed, a trainee someone being trained. Attached to "elect," meaning to choose by vote, it produces a name for the person who has been chosen but has not yet taken office. The result is a useful gap-filler. Between an election and an inauguration, a winning candidate holds a status that "elected" alone describes awkwardly, since that word usually refers to someone already in office. "Electee" names that in-between state precisely, and it is most often heard in phrases like "the president-electee" or in reporting on the transition period.

Synonyms: elected individual