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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SELECT', v. t. [L. selectus, from seligo; se, from, and lego, to pick, cull or gather.] to choose and take from a number; to take by preference from among others; to pick out; to cull; as, to select the best authors for persual; to select the most interesting and virtuous men for associates.
SELECT', a. Nicely chosen; taken from a number by preference; choice; whence, preferable; more valuable or excellent than others; as a body of select troops; a select company or society; a library consisted of select authors.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of superior grade; "choice wines"; "prime beef"; "prize carnations"; "quality paper"; "select peaches" [syn: choice, prime, prize, quality, select]
2: selected or chosen for special qualifications; "the blue- ribbon event of the season" [syn: blue-ribbon, select] v
1: pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her" [syn: choose, take, select, pick out]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Latin selectus, past participle of seligere to select, from se- apart (from sed, se without) + legere to gather, select — more at suicide, legend Date: circa 1555 1. chosen from a number or group by fitness or preference 2. a. of special value or excellence ; superior, choice b. exclusively or fastidiously chosen often with regard to social, economic, or cultural characteristics 3. judicious or restrictive in choice ; discriminating <pleased with the select appreciation of his books — Osbert Sitwell> • selectable adjective • selectness noun • selector noun II. verb Date: 1566 transitive verb to choose (as by fitness or excellence) from a number or group ; pick out intransitive verb to make a choice III. noun Date: 1610 one that is select — often used in plural

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & adj. --v.tr. choose, esp. as the best or most suitable. --adj. 1 chosen for excellence or suitability; choice. 2 (of a society etc.) exclusive, cautious in admitting members. Phrases and idioms: select committee see COMMITTEE. Derivatives: selectable adj. selectness n. Etymology: L seligere select- (as SE-, legere choose)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Select Se*lect", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Selected; p. pr. & vb. n. Selecting.] To choose and take from a number; to take by preference from among others; to pick out; to cull; as, to select the best authors for perusal. ``One peculiar nation to select.'' --Milton. The pious chief . . . A hundred youths from all his train selects. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Select Se*lect", a. [L. selectus, p. p. of seligere to select; pref. se- aside + levere to gather. See Legend.] Taken from a number by preferance; picked out as more valuable or exellent than others; of special value or exellence; nicely chosen; selected; choice. A few select spirits had separated from the crowd, and formed a fit audience round a far greater teacher. --Macaulay.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(selects, selecting, selected) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you select something, you choose it from a number of things of the same kind. Voters are selecting candidates for both US Senate seats and for 52 congressional seats... The movie is being shown in selected cities. = choose VERB: V n, V-ed, also V n for/from n 2. If you select a file or a piece of text on a computer screen, you click on it so that it is marked in a different colour, usually in order for you to give the computer an instruction relating to that file or piece of text. (COMPUTING) I selected a file and pressed the Delete key. VERB: V n 3. A select group is a small group of some of the best people or things of their kind. ...a select group of French cheeses... ADJ: ADJ n 4. If you describe something as select, you mean it has many desirable features, but is available only to people who have a lot of money or who belong to a high social class. Christian Lacroix is throwing a very lavish and very select party. = exclusive ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Choose, pick, cull, prefer, pick out, single out, pitch upon, fix upon. II. a. 1. Selected, chosen, picked, rare, choice, good, excellent, exquisite. 2. Preferable.

Moby Thesaurus

accepted, adopted, advert to, allude to, analyze, appoint, appointed, approved, assign, be taken as, best, better, carried, champion, choice, choose, choose out, chosen, clannish, cliquish, closed, contradistinguish, cream, cull, dainty, decide between, delicate, demarcate, demark, denominate, denote, designate, designated, determine, differentiate, discriminate, discriminating, distinguish, divide, draw the line, elect, elected, elected by acclamation, elegant, elite, emblematize, embraced, espoused, ethnocentric, excellent, exceptional, excerpt, excluding, exclusive, exclusory, exquisite, extract, fat, favored, favorite, figure, fine, finest, finger, first-class, first-rate, fix, flower, for the best, glean, greatest, handpick, handpicked, inadmissible, indicate, insular, limited, make a selection, mark, mark the interface, matchless, mention, name, named, narrow, nominate, nominated, nonesuch, nonpareil, opt for, optimal, optimum, ordain, ordinate, paragon, paramount, parochial, passed, peerless, pick, pick out, picked, pin down, point at, point out, point to, preclusive, prefer, preferable, preferred, prescriptive, preventive, prime, privileged, prize, prohibitive, queen, quintessence, quintessential, rare, ratified, recherche, refer to, restricted, restrictive, screen, screen out, screened, seclusive, segregate, segregative, selected, selective, separate, separative, set, set a limit, set apart, set off, sever, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, signify, single out, snobbish, snobby, sort, sort out, special, specialize, specify, split hairs, stand for, state, stigmatize, stipulate, subdivide, subtilize, superior, superlative, supreme, surpassing, symbol, symbolize, tab, take, the best, the best ever, the tops, the very best, top, typify, unanimously elected, unmatchable, unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed, very best, winnow, xenophobic