selectivity
Meaningthe state or quality of picking out
Common meaning: the quality of being selective
- seapart, aside
- lectto gather, pick out; to readLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1048 · scan
- ivadjective ending: tending to
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
‘apart, aside’ + ‘to gather, pick out’ → selectivity
Journey through time
- Latinlegō, lēgī, lēctum‘to gather, pick out’
- Englishselective‘choosing carefully’
- Englishformed in English from selectiveselectivity‘the quality of being selective’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the state or quality of picking out. It can be inferred from any of: selective.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from selective + -ity (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- legō, lēgī, lēctum Latin “to gather, pick out; to read”
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