Etymology From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).
1
Privileged, specially selected.
Only a select few were allowed into the premiere.
The child was upset when he was cut from select soccer and had to play on his school team with the rest of the plebes.
2 more examples
A few select spirits had separated from the crowd, and formed a fit audience round a far greater teacher.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.[…]In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
2
Of high quality; top-notch.
This is a select cut of beef.
The two sisters at once called on Mrs. Bolton, in a newish house in a row, quite select for Tevershall.1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter VII, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC:
select
verb
Etymology From Latin sēlēctus, perfect passive participle of sēligō (“choose out, select”), from sē- (“without; apart”) + legō (“gather, select”).
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.
The program computes all the students' grades, then selects a random sample for human verification.
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.