Etymograph

English

choice

Choice comes from Middle English chois, from Old French chois ‘choice’, from choisir ‘to choose’, of Germanic origin.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400choisir1‘to choose, perceive’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chois1‘choice’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chois1‘the act of choosing’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591choice1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English choice
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI: “And, which is more, she is not so divine,…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400choisirWiktionary, English choice‘to choose, perceive’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400choisWiktionary, English choice‘choice’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500choisWiktionary, English choice‘the act of choosing’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591choiceWiktionary, English choice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI: “And, which is more, she is not so divine,…”

The story

From Middle English chois, from Old French chois (‘choice’), from choisir (‘to choose, perceive’), possibly via assumed Vulgar Latin *causīre (‘to choose’), from Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan, “to make a choice, taste, test, choose”), from Proto-Germanic *kauzijaną, from *keusaną (‘to choose’), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (‘to choose’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ‘to choose’

cost, chosen, disgust, gust, 16 more

through Middle English chois ‘choice, fine, select’

choose, 1 more

Another origin of choice

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400choisir‘to choose’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chois‘choice (decision)’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500choisas choys‘choice, fine, select’
  4. Englishtodaychoice

Today it means

noun An option; a decision; an opportunity to choose or select something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “choice”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old French choisir / choice

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