# choice

Pronunciation: say "CHOYS" US /t͡ʃɔɪs/, UK /t͡ʃojs/

## Noun

1. An act of choosing between two or more possibilities, or one of the things that can be chosen; an option.
   - Simple: When you pick one thing from two or more, or one of the things you can pick from.
   - _Each student must make a choice about which language to study._
   - _The new policy gives families more choices for their healthcare._
2. The thing selected or preferred; what someone has chosen, or the result of a decision.
   - Simple: The thing you picked, or what you decided in the end.
   - _Moving abroad was a bold choice that changed the course of her life._
   - _After weeks of debate, the city's choice for the new library site was an empty lot near the river._
3. The power or ability to decide between possibilities for oneself.
   - Simple: The freedom or ability to decide things for yourself.
   - _Patients increasingly value having a choice in their own treatment._
   - _The new law gives workers real choice over their schedules._
4. A number or supply of things large enough to allow selection among them.
   - Simple: Enough things to be able to pick from.
   - _The new supermarket offers a wide choice of fresh fruit and vegetables._
   - _Students have a good choice of courses to take in their second year._
7. The best or most preferable part of something. *(literary)*
   - Simple: The best or finest part of something.

## Adjective

5. Especially good or preferred; of superior quality.
   - Simple: Especially good, or of very high quality.
   - _The restaurant serves only choice cuts of meat._
   - _He reserved the choicest seats for his honored guests._
6. Of words or language: deliberately blunt, angry, or rude, chosen to make strong disapproval plain.
   - Simple: Used about words that are very direct, angry, or rude, said to show you strongly dislike something.
   - _The senator had some choice words for the colleagues who blocked the bill._
   - _Fans greeted the team's owner with choice language after he raised ticket prices again._

## Interjection

8. Used to express approval or enthusiasm; cool, excellent. *(slang, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: Used to say that something is really good or cool.
   - _Choice! That's exactly what I was hoping to hear._
   - _A free upgrade on the flight? Choice!_

## Noun

9. Care and judgment exercised in selecting; discrimination or selectiveness. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Care and good judgment used when picking something.

## Adjective

10. Careful in choosing; discriminating or particular about what one selects. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Careful and picky when choosing things.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Ellipsis of axiom of choice.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 7, 9** — The deepest root is Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ("to choose"), which came down through Proto-Germanic and Gothic and possibly into an assumed Vulgar Latin *causīre ("to choose"). From there came Old French choisir ("to choose, perceive") and its noun chois ("choice"), which Middle English borrowed as chois. Old English ċēosan and Old Norse kjósa, both meaning "to choose," are relatives, as is the word choose.
**Meanings 5–6, 8, 10** — Two words merged here: the noun above and Middle English chyse ("choice, excellent"), which together gave Middle English choys. Chyse goes back to Old English ċīes ("choice; dainty; nice"), itself related to Old English ċēosan ("to choose").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/choice (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).