select

adj

Etymology: From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).

1. Privileged, specially selected.

   “Only a select few were allowed into the premiere.”

   “The child was upset when he was cut from select soccer and had to play on his school team with the rest of the plebes.”

2. Of high quality; top-notch.

   “This is a select cut of beef.”

   “The two sisters at once called on Mrs. Bolton, in a newish house in a row, quite select for Tevershall.”

noun

1. A button (of a joystick, joypad or similar device) that, when pressed, activates any of certain predefined functions that usually, but not always, involve selecting something out of a list of items.

verb

Etymology: From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).

1. To choose one or more elements of a set, especially a set of options.

   “He looked over the menu, and selected the roast beef.”

   “The program computes all the students' grades, then selects a random sample for human verification.”

2. To obtain a set of data from a database using a query.