Etymologically
Log in

selectio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

sēlēctiō f (genitive sēlēctiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sēligō (“to pick out”) + -tiō,[2][3] from sē- and legō “to gather, choose”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in On Ends, says that if no selection were made among the things that accord with nature, virtue would have nothing to do.[5][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was the act of picking out, a choice or selection, a word Lewis & Short call Ciceronian.[2][6] Cicero uses it in philosophy for the Stoic choice among things according to nature, and in On the Laws.[5][7] Georges translates it as picking out or sorting.[5]

English selection is recorded in the 1620s.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in On Ends and On the Laws.[5][7][3]
  • 1620s – English selection is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A picking out, choice, selection.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.