DictionaryAI

election

noun
ee-LEK-shuhn/ɪˈlɛkʃ(ə)n/

Pluralelections

4 meanings of election

Practice

  1. 1
    votingnouncountable
    A formal process of choosing a leader or representatives by voting; also, the choosing of a particular person in this way.

    Voters across the country took part in the national election.

    Local elections are held every four years to fill council seats.

    UsageYou vote in an election; elections are held, and candidates win or lose them.

  2. 2
    option chosennouncountable
    An alternative selected from among the available options.

    The form asks employees to confirm their election of benefits each year.

    Her benefits election for next year includes dental and vision coverage.

    UsageMostly on forms and in benefits or payroll language: make an election, change your elections. In conversation, choice is usual.

    Similarchoice, selection

    Note

    The old sense of choice survives in paperwork. On a form such as the W-4, an election is the option the filer selects, and an employee may confirm or change their elections.

  3. 3
    God's choicenoununcountable
    In Calvinism, God's predestined choosing of the saints, including all those counted among the elect.

    Calvinist preachers stressed that election rested entirely on God's will.

    The sermon explored how election sets apart those chosen for salvation.

    Note

    A doctrinal term in Calvinist theology: God's choosing of those to be saved, who are called the elect. John Bunyan in 1684 writes of "Gods eternal decree of Election" and grounds that decree on God's foreknowledge. In a sermon or a work of theology the word means this choosing by God, not a vote, and the elect are the people it chooses.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • In Calvinist theology, election means God's choosing those to be saved, called the elect. en.wiktionary.org
    • Bunyan's quoted discussion was first published in 1684, in A Holy Life, the Beauty of Christianity. gutenberg.org
    • Bunyan uses the exact words quoted. en.wiktionary.org
    • Bunyan grounds the decree on God's foreknowledge. gutenberg.org
    • In the theological sense discussed, election denotes divine choosing and the elect are those chosen. presbyterian.org.nz

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    own choicenounarchaicuncountable
    Any deliberate or conscious choice.
    To use men with much difference and election is good.
    1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Followers and Friends”
    Whosoever searcheth all the circumstances and embraceth all the consequences thereof hindereth his election.
    1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes

    UsageStill met in of one's own election, meaning freely chosen: a place of her own election.

    Note

    The word could once mean choosing of any kind. Francis Bacon in 1597 advises using men "with much difference and election", meaning with discernment. Coleridge still speaks of a free agent's "determinations, or elections" in notes first published in 1838.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Middle English eleccioun, borrowed through Anglo-Norman from Latin ēlectiō ("choice, selection"), which derives from ēligō ("I pluck out, I choose"). It is equivalent to elect plus the suffix -ion.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts