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

In an elective manner; by choice.

Selecting; tending to select. This selective providence of the Almighty. Bp. Hall.

Having the right of electing one's self, or, as a body, of electing its own members.

ous particles of bodies, and unites them to form chemical compounds; chemism; chemical or elective affinity or attraction.

A colony of the British Empire not having an elective magistracy or a parliament, but governed by a chief magistrate (called Governor) appointed by the Crown, with executive councilors nominated by him and not elected by the people.

imity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility. "Franchise in woman." [Obs.] Chaucer. Elective franchise, the privilege or right of voting in an election of public officers.

See Elective, n. If to the former the movement was not optional, it was the same that the latter chose when it was optional. Palfrey. Original writs are either optional or peremptory. Blackstone.

The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland; sometimes, the head of a college; as, the Rector of Exeter College, or of Lincoln College, at Oxford.

ber and position of the stamens and pistils of plants. -- Sexual selection (Biol.), the selective preference of one sex for certain characteristics in the other, such as bright colors, musical notes, etc.; also, the selection which results from certain individuals of one sex having more opportunities of pairing with t…

Pert. to or designating heat rays that have undergone selective absorption and are therefore analogous to colored light rays.

In Russia, an elective local district and provincial administrative assembly. Originally it was composed of representatives elected by the peasantry, the householders of the towns, and the landed proprietors. In the reign of Alexander III. the power of the noble landowners was increased, the peasants allowed only to el…