| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| choice |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  chois |
| NOUN: | 1. The act of choosing; selection. 2. The power, right, or liberty to choose; option. 3. One that is chosen. 4. A number or variety from which to choose: a wide choice of styles and colors. 5. The best or most preferable part. 6. Care in choosing. 7. An alternative. | | ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: choic·er, choic·est
1a. Of very fine quality. b. Appealing to refined taste. 2. Selected with care. 3. Of the U.S. Government grade of meat higher than good and lower than prime. | | IDIOM: | of choice Preferred above others of the same kind or set: “the much used leveraged buyout as the weapon of choice” (Alison Leigh Cowan). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English chois, from Old French, from choisir, to choose, from Vulgar Latin *caus re, of Germanic origin. See geus- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | choice ly —ADVERB
choiceness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | choice, alternative, option, preference, selection, election These nouns denote the act, power, or right of choosing. Choice implies broadly the freedom to choose from a set: The store offers a wide choice of vegetables. I had no choice in the matter. Alternative emphasizes choice between only two possibilities or courses of action: “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth…. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do” (Jane Austen). Option often stresses a power or liberty to choose that has been granted: The legislature outlined several tax options. Preference indicates choice based on one's values, bias, or predilections: We were offered our preference of wines. Selection suggests a variety of things or persons to choose from: The video store had a wide selection of foreign films. Election especially emphasizes the use of judgment: The university recommends the election of courses in literature. See also synonyms at delicate.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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