Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Election \E*lec"tion\, n. [F. ['e]lection, L. electio, fr.
eligere to choose out. See {Elect}, a.]
1. The act of choosing; choice; selection.
2. The act of choosing a person to fill an office, or to
membership in a society, as by ballot, uplifted hands, or
viva voce; as, the election of a president or a mayor.
Corruption in elections is the great enemy of
freedom. --J. Adams.
3. Power of choosing; free will; liberty to choose or act.
``By his own election led to ill.'' --Daniel.
4. Discriminating choice; discernment. [Obs.]
To use men with much difference and election is
good. --Bacon.
5. (Theol.) Divine choice; predestination of individuals as
objects of mercy and salvation; -- one of the ``five
points'' of Calvinism.
There is a remnant according to the election of
grace. --Rom. xi. 5.
6. (Law) The choice, made by a party, of two alternatives, by
taking one of which, the chooser is excluded from the
other.
7. Those who are elected. [Obs.]
The election hath obtained it. --Rom. xi. 7.
{To contest an election}. See under {Contest}.
{To make one's election}, to choose.
He has made his election to walk, in the main, in
the old paths. --Fitzed.
Hall.
Source : WordNet®
election
n 1: a vote to select the winner of a position or political
office; "the results of the election will be announced
tonight"
2: the act of selecting someone or something; the exercise of
deliberate choice; "her election of medicine as a
profession"
3: the status or fact of being elected; "they celebrated his
election"
4: the predestination of some individuals as objects of divine
mercy (especially as conceived by Calvinists)