electus

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of ēligō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eːˈleːk.tus/, [eːˈɫ̪eːkt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈlek.tus/, [eˈlɛkt̪us]

Participle

ēlēctus (feminine ēlēcta, neuter ēlēctum); first/second-declension participle

1. extracted
2. chosen, elected
   1. (Manichaeism) electus, member of the highest class of believer in Manichaeism, who adhere to an ascetic, vegetarian way of life.
      • Aurelius Augustine, In psalmum 140, 12.

        Tales sunt electi, ut non sint salvandi a Deo, sed salvatores Dei.

        So great are the electi, that they are not to be saved by God, but saviours of God.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ēlēctus	ēlēcta	ēlēctum		ēlēctī	ēlēctae	ēlēcta
genitive	ēlēctī	ēlēctae	ēlēctī		ēlēctōrum	ēlēctārum	ēlēctōrum
dative	ēlēctō	ēlēctae	ēlēctō		ēlēctīs
accusative	ēlēctum	ēlēctam	ēlēctum		ēlēctōs	ēlēctās	ēlēcta
ablative	ēlēctō	ēlēctā	ēlēctō		ēlēctīs
vocative	ēlēcte	ēlēcta	ēlēctum		ēlēctī	ēlēctae	ēlēcta

Derived terms

• Medieval Latin: archielectus

Descendants

• → Catalan: electe
• French: élit, élite (see there for further descendants)
• → English: elect
• → Italian: eletto
• → Portuguese: eleito (semi-learned)
• → Spanish: electo

References

• “electus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “electus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• electus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• electus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “electus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray