selection English · revision 4229

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1623|origins=la seligere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɪˈlek.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|sēlēctiō|t=a choosing out, choice]] (accusative sēlēctiōnem),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) a noun of action from sēlēctus, the past participle of [[m|la|sēligere|t=to choose out, single out; to separate, cull]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[select]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of selecting, the fact of being chosen: about 1623 in Merriam-Webster,^(MW Collegiate) the 1620s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1646–58 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A thing selected, a number of things chosen, a particular choice, is from 1805.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In biology it was used by 1837 of the systematic breeding of plants and animals by humans, and Darwin extended it in 1857, in ''natural selection'', to the impersonal working of nature and time;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) French sélection is a 19th-century borrowing from English.^(Etymonline) In Australia a selection was land taken up under the free-selection laws, from 1866.^(OED 1989)^(Morris 1898) The horse picked by a racing tipster is a selection from 1901.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1623 – the act of choosing.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1805 – a thing chosen.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – in breeding.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1857 – ''natural selection''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1866 – Australian free selection.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1901 – a racing tip.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of selecting, or the fact of being selected; [[choice]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something or someone selected.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A carefully chosen or representative collection: ''a selection of cheeses''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A piece of writing or music chosen for reading or performance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In biology, a natural or artificial process favouring some organisms over others in survival and reproduction.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[selectional]]

+ * [[self-selection]]

+ * [[nonselection]]

+ * [[orthoselection]]

+ * [[reselection]]

+ * [[superselection]]

+ * [[selectionist]]

+ * [[adverse selection]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[elect]]

+ * [[election]]

+ * [[elective]]

+ * [[elite]]

+ * [[elitism]]

+ * [[select]]

+ * [[selectance]]

+ * [[selectee]]

+ * [[selective]]

+ * [[selectivity]]

+ * [[selectman]]

+ * [[selector]]

+ * [[collect]]

+ * [[natural selection]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}