Etymologically
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elective

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪˈlɛktɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French electif,[2][3][4][5] also directly borrowed from Late Latin ēlēctīvus,[6][3][4][2] from ēlēctus (“chosen”), the past participle of ēligō (“to pick out, choose”), and the suffix -īvus.[6][2][7] The OED regards the Latin form as a type rather than a recorded word, and notes that in English, as in the Romance languages, the passive sense "chosen" came before the active "choosing".[5] The same Latin verb gives elect and election.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Proceeding from choice; voluntary: electif, early 15th century.[6][4] The OED's first record is from an Act of Parliament of 1530–1, of an office filled by election,[5] and Merriam-Webster dates that sense to about 1531.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was soon tied to choosing by vote: an office filled by election (1530), a body that has the power to elect (1632), and a government based on election (1643).[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as exercising the power of choice, and quoted Bacon on an elective monarchy.[9] In the 18th century chemists spoke of elective affinity, the tendency of a substance to combine with some substances rather than others.[5][4] The sense "optional" lived on in American colleges, where an elective course or subject, chosen by the student, is recorded from 1847;[5][6] the noun, an elective course, follows in 1850.[2] In the 20th century medicine revived the sense for an operation that is not urgent but chosen.[4][5] In British use an elective is also an optional placement taken by a medical student.[10]

Timeline

  • early 15th century – electif, voluntary.[6][4]
  • 1530 – of an office, filled by election.[5]
  • 1632 – having the power to elect.[5]
  • 1643 – of a government, based on election; proceeding from free choice.[5]
  • 1767 – in chemistry, acting on some substances rather than others.[5]
  • 1847 – of a course of study, chosen by the student (US).[5][6]
  • 1850 – noun, an elective course.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Chosen or filled by election: an elective office.[10][2][5]
  2. Of or based on voting: an elective system of government.[10][2]
  3. Having the power to elect.[10][5]
  4. Open to choice; optional: an elective course in Spanish.[10][2]
  5. (medicine) Of surgery, chosen by the patient or doctor rather than urgently needed.[4][5]

Noun

  1. An optional course or subject in a school or college.[2][10]
  2. (British) An optional placement taken by a medical student.[10]

Word family

  • electively
  • electiveness
  • nonelective
  • unelective

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins