Elector
/ɪˈlɛktər/noun
A person who has the right to vote in an election, especially a member of a formal body that chooses a ruler.
Did you know?In medieval Latin, an elector was literally a “chooser,” and the word comes from the same root that gave English *select* and *intellect*—so to choose, in the oldest sense, was an act of picking out with the mind.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“to gather, pick out, choose”
Latin
Latin
legere
“to gather, pick out, read”
Latin
Latin
electus
“chosen, selected”
Medieval Latin
Latin
elector
“a chooser, one who selects”
14th Century
English
electour
“one who votes or chooses, especially for an office”
Modern English
English
elector
“a person entitled to vote or choose in an election”