ELECTIVE

a. n.

4 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)

1.
a.

Exerting the power of choice; selecting; as, an elective act.

2.
a.

Pertaining to, or consisting in, choice, or right of choosing; electoral. The independent use of their elective franchise. Bancroft.

3.
a.

Dependent on choice; bestowed or passing by election; as, an elective study; an elective office. Kings of Rome were at first elective; . . . for such are the conditions of an elective kingdom. Dryden. Elective affinity or attraction (Chem.), a tendency to unite with certain things; chemism.

4.
n.

In an American college, an optional study or course of study. [Colloq.]

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