choose

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English cheosen, chesen, from Old English ċēosan (“to choose, seek out, select, elect, decide, test, accept, settle for, approve”), from Proto-West Germanic *keusan, from Proto-Germanic *keusaną (“to taste, choose”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwseti, from *ǵews- (“to taste, try”).

Cognate with Scots chuise, cheese (“to choose”), North Frisian kese (“to choose”), Saterland Frisian kjoze (“to choose”), West Frisian kieze (“to choose”), Dutch kiezen (“to choose”), French choisir (“to choose”), Low German kesen (“to choose”), German Low German kiesen (“to pick, select”), archaic and partially obsolete German kiesen (“to choose”), Danish kyse (“to frighten (via ‘to charm, allure’ and ‘to enchant’)”), Norwegian kjose (“to choose”), Swedish tjusa (“to charm, allure, enchant”), Icelandic kjósa (“to choose, vote, elect”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (kiusan, “to test”), Latin gustō (“I taste, sample”), Ancient Greek γεύω (geúō, “to feed”), Sanskrit जोषति (jóṣati, “to like, enjoy”), Russian кушать (kúšatʹ, “to have a meal, to eat”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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choose (third-person singular simple present chooses, present participle choosing, simple past chose or (nonstandard) choosed, past participle chosen or (nonstandard) choosed or (now colloquial) chose)

  1. To pick; to make the choice of; to select.
    I chose a nice ripe apple from the fruit bowl.
    • 1739, [David Hume], “Of the Influencing Motives of the Will”, in A Treatise of Human Nature: […], book II (Of the Passions), London: […] John Noon, […], →OCLC, part III (Of the Will and Direct Passions), page 249:
      Secondly, VVhen in exerting any paſſion in action, vve chuſe means inſufficient for the deſign'd end, and deceive ourſelves in our judgment of cauſes and effects.
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC:
      The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
  2. To elect.
    He was chosen as president in 1990.
  3. To decide to act in a certain way.
    I chose to walk to work today.
  4. To prefer; to wish; to desire.
Usage notes
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Conjugation
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Conjugation of choose
infinitive (to) choose
present tense past tense
1st-person singular choose chose, choosed*
2nd-person singular choose, choosest† chose, choosed*, chosest†, choosedst†
3rd-person singular chooses, chooseth† chose, choosed*
plural choose
subjunctive choose chose, choosed*
imperative choose —
participles choosing chosen, choosed*, chose**

†Archaic or obsolete. * Nonstandard. ** Colloquial.

Derived terms
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Translations
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to choose — see take
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Conjunction

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choose

  1. (mathematics) The binomial coefficient of the previous and following number.
    The number of distinct subsets of size k from a set of size n is or "n choose k".
See also
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English chose, chos, chooce, a Northern dialectal form of Middle English chois (“choice”). Cognate with Scots chose, choose, chuse (“choosing, choice, selection”). Doublet of choice, which see for more.

Noun

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choose (plural chooses)

  1. (obsolete, Northern England, Scotland) The act of choosing; selection.
  2. (obsolete, Northern England, Scotland) The power, right, or privilege of choosing; election.

References

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Anagrams

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