Lect

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An act of selecting or choosing; a portion of text or speech selected for study or recitation; an invitation or offering to accept something
2. The process of picking or gathering choices; a passage or excerpt chosen from a larger written or spoken work; a proposal or suggestion made to someone for approval
3. The action of making a decision among alternatives; a segment or part taken from a broader literary or oral content; an expression of willingness to present or grant an option to someone

Etymology: "Lect" is not a word that existed on its own in English before it was used as a standalone noun. It is a clipped form of the element "-lect" found in words like "dialect" and "idiolect," where it comes from the Greek "legein," meaning to speak. In that sense it is a combining form that has been detached from its compounds and given a meaning of its own. As a noun, "lect" is a technical term in linguistics, used to name a variety of language defined by its speakers or its usage, such as a dialect or sociolect. Its meaning is therefore not the act of choosing that the simple gloss suggests, and readers who meet it in a dictionary of Greek-derived roots may find the sense confusing. The ending carries over the sense of speech and language from the Greek root, not the sense of selection.

Synonyms: dialect, variety