select

Where does the word "select" come from? It comes from Latin seligere, and was adopted directly into English (1560s).

Select’s story begins in Latin: seligere meant “to choose apart, to pick out.” To choose apart, to pick out, from se- (apart) and legere (to choose). It reached English by 1560s as select. Settled as the English word for carefully choosing from a group. Today, select means to carefully choose someone or something from a group.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient seligere "to choose apart, to pick out", to choose apart, to pick out, from se- (apart) and legere (to choose).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1560s select "to carefully choose from a group of options", settled as the English word for carefully choosing from a group.