eclectic - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• eclectick (obsolete)

From French éclectique, from Ancient Greek ἐκλεκτικός (eklektikós, “selective”), from ἐκλέγω (eklégō, “I pick, choose”), from ἐκ (ek, “out, from”) + λέγω (légō, “I choose, count”).

Cognate to elect.

• IPA(key): /ɛkˈlɛk.tɪk/, /ɪˈklɛk.tɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɛktɪk

eclectic (comparative more eclectic, superlative most eclectic)

1. Selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
   • 1893, John Robson, Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity, pages 211, 214:
     Chunder Sen and the Progressive Brahmists broke entirely with Hinduism...and he selected from the scriptures of all creeds what seemed best in them for instruction and for worship. […] It is an eclectic religion: it seeks to select what is good from all religions, and it has become the latest evidence that no eclectic religion can ever influence large numbers of men.
   • 2017 August 2, Seth Rogovoy, Don Byron and Friends to Explore Early Soul Music at Helsinki Hudson‎[1]:
2. Unrelated and unspecialized; heterogeneous.
   • 1983, Peter J. Wilson, Man, the Promising Primate: The Conditions of Human Evolution, page 140:
     All members of the Hominoidea, apes and man, show an eclectic taste in food but select, from a wide range of possibilities, only a few to provide the bulk of their diet.
   • 2006, W. Frederick Zimmerman, Should Barack Obama Be President?, page 153:
     Colvin said Obama has an eclectic taste in music, listening to everything from Indonesian flute music to OutKast to Motown.
   • 2018 September 26, Drachinifel, 2:30 from the start, in The Battle of Lissa - Special‎[2], archived from the original on 9 August 2023:
     The Austrians concentrated their entire armored formation into the 1st Division; the 2nd Division consisted solely of the wooden ship of the line Kaiser, looking incredibly out of place in a battle of ironclads, along with five frigates; and the 3rd Division had an eclectic collection of smaller gunboats and armed merchantmen.

• (unrelated and unspecialized): heterogeneous; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous

• (antonym(s) of “selecting a mixture of doctrines”): exclusive, homogeneous, orthodox, standard, uniform; see also Thesaurus:homogeneous

• eclectically

• eclecticism

• eclecticist

• eclecticize

• eclectic medicine

• eclection

• noneclectic

• uneclectic

• cherry pick

• heteroclite

• holistic

eclectic (plural eclectics)

1. Someone who selects according to the eclectic method.
   • 1986 December 14, Mary Morrisey, “Roll Over, Jehovah — And Tell St. Nick the News”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 22, page 5:
     Neo-Pagans are eclectics, often borrowing from a variety of cultural traditions as they try to shape their religious organizations and practices to meet group and individual needs.

Borrowed from French éclectique.

• IPA(key): /eˈklek.tik/

eclectic m or n (feminine singular eclectică, masculine plural eclectici, feminine and neuter plural eclectice)

1. eclectic