selon

See also: ŝelon and selön

Esperanto

Noun

selon

1. accusative singular of selo

Finnish

Noun

selon

1. genitive singular of selko

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French selunc, selonc, from earlier solonc, sulonc, sulunc, probably from a Vulgar Latin *sublungum, from Latin sub + longum, possibly a calque of Frankish *galang (“according, depending, relating to”). Alternatively from a supposed Old French *seon, an old form of segun, son (“in accordance with”) (itself from Latin secundum; compare Old Occitan segon), later crossed with long, lonc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə.lɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

selon

1. according to; whichever applies; depending on

   Selon plusieurs témoins, il est parti tout de suite.

   According to several witnesses, he left right away.

   Les enfants sont séparés en plusieurs groupes, selon leur âge.

   The children are separated into several groups, according to their age.

   Les études psychologiques ont essayé d’évaluer les critères selon lesquels on juge de la beauté d’une personne, et plus précisément, sur ce qui rendait un individu « attractif ».

   Psychological studies have tried to evaluate the criteria according to which one judges a person's beauty and, more precisely, what makes an individual "attractive."

Usage notes

• Unlike most other bi- or multisyllabic French prepositions, which allow optional phonological liaison, selon does not form liaison with subsequent vowel-initial words.

Derived terms

• selon que

Further reading

• “selon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• noëls