choice
pronunciation
How to pronounce choice in British English:
UK [tʃɔɪs]
How to pronounce choice in American English:
US [tʃɔɪs]
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- Noun:
- the person or thing chosen or selected
- the act of choosing or selecting
- one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen
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- Adjective:
- of superior grade
- appealing to refined taste
Word Origin
- choice
- choice: [13] Choice is a French formation, although like the verb with which it is linked, choose, its ancestry is Germanic. The source of the English word was Old French chois, a derivative of the verb choisir ‘choose’, which came ultimately from the same Germanic base, *kaus- or *keus-, as produced choose. English had its own native formation, Old English cyre ‘choice’, which died out in Middle English times; had it survived to the present day, it might have been something like kire.=> choose
- choice (n.)
- mid-14c., "that which is choice," from choice (adj.) blended with earlier chois (n.) "action of selecting" (c. 1300); "power of choosing" (early 14c.), "someone or something chosen" (late 14c.), from Old French chois "one's choice; fact of having a choice" (12c., Modern French choix), from verb choisir "to choose, distinguish, discern; recognize, perceive, see," from Frankish or some other Germanic source related to Old English ceosan "to choose, taste, try;" see choose. Late Old English chis "fastidious, choosy," from or related to ceosan, probably also contributed to the development of choice. Replaced Old English cyre "choice, free will," from the same base, probably because the imported word was closer to choose [see note in OED].
- choice (adj.)
- "worthy to be chosen, distinguished, excellent," mid-14c., from choice (n.). Related: Choiceness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. They may have no choice .
- 2. There is little real choice .
- 3. Temptation simply provides the choice .
- 4. By offering the widest choice .
- 5. Now you have a choice .