WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : E*lec"tion
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F. ?lection, L. electio, fr. eligere to choose out. See Elect, a.]
Definition : 1. The act of choosing; choice; selection.

2. The act of choosing a person to fill an office, or to membership in a society, as by ballot, uplifted hands, or viva voce; as, the election of a president or a mayor. Corruption in elections is the great enemy of freedom. J. Adams.

3. Power of choosing; free will; liberty to choose or act. "By his own election led to ill." Daniel.

4. Discriminating choice; discernment. [Obs.] To use men with much difference and election is good. Bacon.

5. (Theol.)

Defn: Divine choice; predestination of individuals as objects of mercy and salvation; -- one of the "five points" of Calvinism. There is a remnant according to the election of grace. Rom. xi. 5.

6. (Law)

Defn: The choice, made by a party, of two alternatives, by taking one of which, the chooser is excluded from the other.

7. Those who are elected. [Obs.] The election hath obtained it. Rom. xi. 7. To contest an election. See under Contest. -- To make one's election, to choose. He has made his election to walk, in the main, in the old paths. Fitzed. Hall.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913