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PlainSpell

select

se·lect/sɪˈlɛkt/adjective, verb

select is spelled S-E-L-E-C-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (se·lect). It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, select means “Privileged, specially selected” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in select?

Letters6: S-E-L-E-C-T
Syllables2: se·lect
In writing28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is select?

Select appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce select?

  • /sɪˈlɛkt/
  • /səˈlɛkt/

Select has 2 syllables, split se·lect in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-select.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with select?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as select.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: celest.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of select

  • more select comparative
  • most select superlative
  • selects present, singular, he/she/it
  • selecting participle, present
  • selected participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does select mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Privileged, specially selected.

    Only a select few were allowed into the premiere.

  2. 2

    Of high quality; top-notch.

    This is a select cut of beef.

verb

  1. 1

    To choose one or more elements of a set, especially a set of options.

    He looked over the menu, and selected the roast beef.

  2. 2

    To obtain a set of data from a database using a query.

noun

as Select
  1. 1

    A button (of a joystick, joypad or similar device) that, when pressed, activates any of certain predefined functions that usually, but not always, involve selecting something out of a list of items.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Select in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsélect (privileged, specially selected), choisir, sélectionner (to choose one or more elements from a set)
Portugueseseleto, selecionado (privileged, specially selected), escolher, selecionar, optar por, seletar (to choose one or more elements from a set)
Spanishseleccionar, cribar (to choose one or more elements from a set), selecto, cogollo (of high quality; top-notch)
Germanauswählen (to choose one or more elements from a set)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does select come from?

From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after select