Selected

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /sɪˈlɛktɪd/

Definitions

1. The act of making a choice or decision from available options | The process of choosing someone or something for a specific purpose or role | An instance of picking out or distinguishing an item from a group for consideration
2. The action of identifying and designating someone or something from a group for a particular role or purpose
3. The process of choosing an individual or item from several possibilities based on criteria or preference

Etymology: The story of "selected" is a straightforward one, arising from the marriage of the verb "select" and the common English past participle and adjective-forming suffix "-ed." The base verb "select" itself entered English in the early 16th century, drawn from the Latin "selectus," the past participle of "seligere," meaning "to choose out" or "pick apart." That Latin root is a combination of "se-" (apart) and "legere" (to gather, choose, or collect), a verb that has given English a host of related words like "collect," "elect," and "legend." The "-ed" suffix is a standard way in English to form the past participle and, by extension, adjectives from verbs, so "selected" simply describes something (or someone) that has been chosen, often with care or discernment. There is no dramatic shift in meaning or curious detour in this word’s history — it has always carried the sense of picking out from among others, a meaning that has remained stable since it first appeared in English texts.

Synonyms: chosen, picked, designated, elected, appointed

Antonyms: unselected, rejected, excluded, dismissed, abandoned