# election
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English eleccioun, eleccion, from Anglo-Norman eleccioun, from Latin ēlectiōn-, stem of ēlectiō (“choice, selection”), from ēligō (“I pluck out, I choose”). Equivalent to elect +‎ -ion.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ĭ-lĕk'shən, IPA: /ɪˈlɛkʃ(ə)n/
* Audio (US):(file)
* (weak vowel merger) IPA: /əˈlɛkʃ(ə)n/
* Hyphenation: elec‧tion
* Rhymes: -ɛkʃən

### Noun

election (countable and uncountable, plural elections)
* A process of choosing a leader, members of parliament, councillors, or other representatives by popular vote.
    The parliamentary election(s) will be held in March.
    How did you vote in (UK also: at) the last election?
** 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎:That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.
* The choice of a leader or representative by popular vote.
    The election of John Smith was due to his broad appeal.
* An option that is selected.
    W-4 election
* (archaic) Any conscious choice.
** 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 20, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:Whosoever searcheth all the circumstances and embraceth all the consequences thereof hindereth his election.
** 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Followers and Friends”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:To use men with much difference and election is good.
** 1830, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on The Pilgrim's Progress:The predestinative force of a free agent's own will in certain absolute acts, determinations, or elections, and in respect of which acts it is one either with the divine or the devilish will; and if the former, the conclusions to be drawn from God's goodness, faithfulness, and spiritual presence; these supply grounds of argument of a very different character […]
* (theology) In Calvinism, God's predestination of saints including all of the elect.
** 1684, John Bunyan, A Holy Life, the Beauty of Christianity: Or, An Exhortation to Christians to be Holy, London: […] B. W. for Benj[amin] Alsop, […], →OCLC, page 3:[H]e [Paul] laboureth to comfort Timothy vvith the remembrance of the ſtedfaſtneſs of Gods eternal decree of Election, becauſe grounded on his foreknowledge; […]
* (obsolete) Those who are elected.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 11:7:The election hath obtained it.

#### Synonyms

* (theology): chosenness

#### Hyponyms

* direct election
* general election
* indirect election
* primary election
* snap election

#### Derived terms

* antielection
* byelection
* by-election
* e-election
* election campaign
* electioneer
* electioneering
* electionless
* electionlike
* election night
* electionspeak
* election threshold
* khaki election
* midterm election
* nonelection
* postelection
* pre-election, preelection
* pseudoelection
* pseudo-election
* re-election
* reelection
* special election
* subelection
* sweat like a nigger on election day
* unconditional election
* unelection
* wave election

#### Related terms

* elect
* electional
* election of remedies
* election theft
* elective
* elector
* electoral
* electorate

#### See also

* psephology

### See also

* Election on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Predestination on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Middle French
### Noun

election f (plural elections)
* choice; selection (person, object that is selected)
* election (act or process of being elected to an office)