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Origin and history of chosen

chosen(n.)

"the elect, the select," especially those selected by God, c. 1200, from past participle of choose (v.). Chosen people for "the Jews" is recorded from 1530s.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to chosen

choose(v.)

Old English ceosan "choose, seek out, select from two or more; decide, test, taste, try; accept, approve" (class II strong verb; past tense ceas, past participle coren), from Proto-Germanic *keus- (source also of Old Frisian kiasa, Old Saxon kiosan, Dutch kiezen, Old High German kiosan, German kiesen, Old Norse kjosa, Gothic kiusan "choose," Gothic kausjan "to taste, test"), from PIE root *geus- "to taste; to choose." Only remotely related to choice. Variant spelling chuse is Middle English, very frequent 16c.-18c. The irregular past participle leveled out to chosen by 1200.

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    Trends of chosen

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    elect
    early 15c., "to choose for an office, position, or duty," from Latin electus, past participle of eligere "to pick out, choose," from ex "out" (see ex-) + -ligere, combining form of legere "to choose," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather." Related: Elected; electing....ear
    arbitrator
    "person chosen by opposite parties to decide some point at issue between them," early 15c., from Late Latin arbitrator "a..."It is often the practice to appoint two or more arbitrators, with an umpire, chosen usually by them, as final referee" [...
    selection
    1620s, "act of selecting, action of choosing, fact of being selected or chosen," from Latin selectionem (nominative selectio...The meaning "thing selected, a number of things chosen, a particular choice" is from 1805....
    president
    late 14c., "appointed governor of a province; chosen leader of a body of persons," from Old French president and directly...charge of the Continental Congress" (1774), earlier of individual colonies (Virginia, 1608), a sense derived from that of "chosen...
    Liberia
    the American Colonization Society (founded for that purpose in 1816), launched as a free republic in 1847; the name was chosen...
    Tartuffe
    principal character in the comedy by Molière (1664), apparently from Old French tartuffe "truffle" (see truffle), perhaps chosen...
    alternative
    Of objects, etc., "the other of two which may be chosen," by 1836....
    specify
    early 14c., specifien, "to speak, make plain, say" (intransitive); mid-14c., transitive, "to name (someone or something) explicitly," from Old French specifier, especefier (13c.) and directly from Late Latin specificare "mention particularly," from specificus (see specific). Rela
    excerpt
    "to take or cull out" a passage in a written or printed work, "select, cite, extract," early 15c. (implied in past participle excerpte "taken from a book"), from Latin excerptus, past participle of excerpere "pluck out, pick out, extract," figuratively "choose, select, gather," a
    pick
    early 13c., picken "to peck;" c. 1300, piken "to work with a pick, to dig up," probably representing a fusion of Old English *pician "to prick," (implied by picung "a piercing, pricking," an 8c. gloss on Latin stigmata) with Old Norse pikka "to prick, peck," both from a Germanic

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