selection
13 synonyms for selection, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The act of choosing one or more things or people from a larger group.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
The act of choosing one or more things or people from a larger group.
“The selection of a new head teacher took three months.”
2. noun
The thing or set of things chosen, or the range available to choose from.
“The shop carries a wide selection of imported cheeses.”
3. noun biology
In biology, the process by which some organisms survive and reproduce more successfully than others, so that their traits become more common in a population.
“Natural selection favours moths whose colouring matches the bark.”
How to use selection
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Neutral; the biological sense is technical.
Etymology
From Latin selectio, from seligere 'to choose out', from se- 'apart' and legere 'to gather, choose'.
Full origin of selection →