Definition
elected to an important position, but not yet given that position officially
View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary
Origin and usage
The adjective elect comes from a Latin verb ‘eligere’ meaning to choose. It was first used with its current meaning in 17th century.
Examples
Elect is chiefly a verb, of course but it is also an adjective, one of a select group that can only go after a noun (others include designate, galore and incarnate). The most common noun collocate of elect by far is president, followed at some distance by other political and administrative terms such as chair(man/woman), councilwoman/man, congresswoman/man, governor, senator, and so on. Terms formed with elect are generally, though not always, hyphenated: President-elect, congresswoman-elect, chairman-elect and so on.
Quotations
“An inaugural committee is appointed by the President-elect to be in charge of the presidential inaugural ceremony and activities connected with the ceremony.”
(enTenTen15 corpus)
“The congresswoman-elect said she believes the two issues that will impact Michigan the most at the national level are the federal budget and international affairs.”
(enTenTen15 corpus)
Related Words
election, electioneering, elective, electoral, incoming
Browse related words in the Macmillan Thesaurus.
