elect (v.) Copy link Outline I. To select for some office1. dēlĭgo, lēgi, lectum, 3 (to choose out of a number who might all be thought suitable)2. creo, 1 (the proper word to denote formal election)3. (when stress is laid upon the mode of election, by vote) expr. by suffrāgiis, or suffrāgio, with various verbs, as creo (v. supr.), facio, constituo4. dēsigno, 1 (to nominate by vote; chiefly in p. part., v. foll. art.)5. cŏopto, 1 (of election by a body of men themselves holding the office)6. suffĭcio, fēci, fectum, 3 (to e. into a place prematurely vacant)II. In theol. sense • elect (v.): I. To select for some office: 1. dēlĭgo, lēgi, lectum, 3 (to choose out of a number who might all be thought suitable): this is the principle on which the Roman people e.s (= makes choice of) its magistrates, sic P. R. deligit magistratus, Cic. Pl. 25, 62: v. to choose. 2. creo, 1 (the proper word to denote formal election): Caesar and Servilius are e.'d consuls, consules creantur Caesar et Servilius. Caes.: at Carthage two kings were e.'d annually, Carthagine quotannis bini reges creabantur, Nep.: Liv. Sometimes, when precision is required, suffragiis is added: quum suffragiis tres ex tribus generibus creati sunt, Cic. Verr. 2, 51, 127. 3. (when stress is laid upon the mode of election, by vote) expr. by suffrāgiis, or suffrāgio, with various verbs, as creo (v. supr.), facio, constituo: to e. any one consul unanimously, aliquem consulem cunctis suffragiis facere, Cic. Fam. 15, 12: he is unanimously e.'d general, constituitur dux omnium suffragio, Just. 1, 10, fin. In similar sense Livy has praerogativa: to be e.'d general by the soldiers, praerogativa militari in praetorium deferri, 21, 3. 4. dēsigno, 1 (to nominate by vote; chiefly in p. part., v. foll. art.): v. to appoint (I., 3). 5. cŏopto, 1 (of election by a body of men themselves holding the office): to e. any one into the college of augurs, aliquem in collegium augurum c., Cic. 6. suffĭcio, fēci, fectum, 3 (to e. into a place prematurely vacant): since that time a censor is never e.'d to fill the place of one deceased, nec deinde unquam in demortui locum censor sufficitur, Liv. 5, 31. The active appears rarely or never to be used in this sense: subrŏgo is used in corresponding sense of the presiding magistrate or magistrates, cf. Cic. Rep. 2, 36. (N.B. Eligo, which is to choose out of a promiscuous number, should not be used of formal election. It is combined with creo, Suet. Vesp. 6: consilium inferunt eligendi creandique imperatoris, where eligo refers to the selection of a man, creo to his appointment.) See also to choose. II. In theol. sense: ēlĭgo, lēgi, lectum, 3: Vulg. Eph. i. 4: Aug.