choose definition

English

Alternative forms

• chuse (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From Middle English cheosen, chesen, from Old English ċēosan (“to choose, seek out, select, elect, decide, test, accept, settle for, approve”), from Proto-West Germanic *keusan, from Proto-Germanic *keusaną (“to taste, choose”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwseti, from *ǵews- (“to taste, try”).

Cognate with Scots chuise, cheese (“to choose”), North Frisian kese (“to choose”), Saterland Frisian kjoze (“to choose”), West Frisian kieze (“to choose”), Dutch kiezen (“to choose”), French choisir (“to choose”), Low German kesen (“to choose”), German Low German kiesen (“to pick, select”), archaic and partially obsolete German kiesen (“to choose”), Danish kyse (“to frighten (via ‘to charm, allure’ and ‘to enchant’)”), Norwegian kjose (“to choose”), Swedish tjusa (“to charm, allure, enchant”), Icelandic kjósa (“to choose, vote, elect”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (kiusan, “to test”), Latin gustō (“I taste, sample”), Ancient Greek γεύω (geúō, “to feed”), Sanskrit जोषति (jóṣati, “to like, enjoy”), Russian kúšatʹ (kúšatʹ, “to have a meal, to eat”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: cho͞oz, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃuːz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːz
• Homophone: chews

Verb

choose (third-person singular simple present chooses, present participle choosing, simple past chose or (nonstandard) choosed, past participle chosen or (nonstandard) choosed or (now colloquial) chose)

1. To pick; to make the choice of; to select.

   I chose a nice ripe apple from the fruit bowl.

   • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart; Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, OCLC 20230794, page 01:

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

2. To elect.

   He was chosen as president in 1990.

3. To decide to act in a certain way.

   I chose to walk to work today.

4. To prefer; to wish; to desire.
   • 2016, Justin Deschamps:

     Choose truth, and find beauty. Choose love, and embrace change.

   • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], OCLC 938500648; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, OCLC 21416084:

     The landlady now returned to know if we did not choose a more genteel apartment.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• choice
• choosy
• chosen

Translations

Conjunction

choose

1. (mathematics) The binomial coefficient of the previous and following number.

   The number of distinct subsets of size k from a set of size n is ${\displaystyle {\tbinom {n}{k}}}$ or "n choose k".

See also

• Binomial coefficient on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English chose, chos, chooce, a Northern dialectal form of Middle English chois (“choice”). Cognate with Scots chose, choose, chuse (“choosing, choice, selection”). Doublet of choice, which see for more.

Noun

choose (plural chooses)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) The act of choosing; selection.
2. (dialectal or obsolete) The power, right, or privilege of choosing; election.
3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (dialectal or obsolete) Scope for choice.

References

• choose in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• choose in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• Cohoes, cohoes, ooches