candidate

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.dɪdət/, /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/, /ˈkæn.dɪ.dɪt/
• (US, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.ɪ.dɪt/, /ˈkæn.ɪ.deɪt/^[1]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

From Latin candidātus (“a person who is standing for public office”, noun), from candidus (“dazzling white, shining, clear”) +‎ -ātus, -āta, -ātum (participial adjective-forming suffix), in reference to Roman candidates wearing bleached white togas as a symbol of purity at a public forum. By surface analysis, candid +‎ -ate (noun-forming suffix).

candidate (plural candidates)

2. A person who seeks to be elected or appointed to a position or privilege.

   Smith announced he was the party's candidate for the next election.

   All candidates who miss the deadline or make a spelling mistake in their applications are automatically rejected.

   • 2021 March 18, Scott Glover, Curt Devine and Audrey Ash, “Former Florida state senator charged in spoiler candidate scheme”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Artiles, a Republican operative with a reputation for a foul mouth and sharp elbows, is accused of financing a sham candidate whose candidacy was intended to siphon votes from a legitimate Democratic candidate in a state Senate race in South Florida’s 37th District. The candidate has the same last name as then-Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez but did not actively campaign for the seat and has since admitted being recruited as a spoiler.

3. (figurative) A person who is thought likely or worthy to gain a position or privilege. [from 1760s]
5. (originally jargon) A participant in an examination. [from 1690s]

   Candidates must remain silent for the entirety of the exam.

7. Someone or something likely or suited to undergo or be chosen for a purpose.

   After being presented with various suitors, she decided none of the candidates were the kind of man she was looking for.

   • 2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, “Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist‎^[2], volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 7 August 2013, page 184:

     In the past two years, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has located nearly 3,000 exoplanet candidates ranging from sub-Earth-sized minions to gas giants that dwarf our own Jupiter.

9. (genetics) A gene which may play a role in a given disease.

candidate (third-person singular simple present candidates, present participle candidating, simple past and past participle candidated) (uncommon)

1. To stand as a candidate for an office, typically for a religious one. [from 1840s]
   • 1906, Year Book of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, page 196:

     The matter of candidating for a pulpit is not a matter of difference between congregations and Rabbis, but between Rabbis themselves.

   • 1917, William Harvey Allen, Universal Training for Citizenship and Public Service, page 154:

     Furthermore, the fact that a school principal has only been in a large school six weeks does not prevent his candidating for principal of a larger school with larger salary.

   • 2014, Susan H. Jones, Listening for God's Call, SCM Press, →ISBN, page 74:

     The report Shaping the Future also gives a set of learning outcomes for those people candidating for ordained ministry. These were also agreed by the Methodist Conference.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:candidated.
2. (nonstandard, chiefly jargon and non-native speakers' English) To make or name (something) as a candidate (to be chosen or deemed suitable for a purpose).
   • 1982, Brian O'Leary, Space industrialization, CRC:

     Performance comparison of solar energy conversion candidated for SPS. (From NASA, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston 1977.)

   • 1989, Institution of Electrical Engineers. Electronics Division, European Conference on Circuit Theory and Design, 5-8 September 1989, Peter Peregrinus Limited, →ISBN:

     In this program if a processor becomes idle, then all feasible activities requiring that kind of processor will be candidated for scheduling. If the number of candidates is more than the number of available processors, activities with higher priority ...

   • 2005, Khaled M. Khan, Yan Zhang, Managing Corporate Information Systems Evolution and Maintenance, IGI Global, →ISBN, page 308:

     Evaluate the maintenance costs of the software system in order to candidate it for evolution AA14. Evaluate the hardware platform used and the possibility of migrating the software system toward more economical platforms ...

From Latin candidātus (“dressed in white”, adjective); see Etymology 1 for further derivations. By surface analysis, candid +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix).

candidate (third-person singular simple present candidates, present participle candidating, simple past and past participle candidated)

1. (obsolete, rare, transitive, figurative) To make white; to whitewash. [1628–1677]

• “candidate, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “candidate, v.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “candidate, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “candidate”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present: “one likely or suited to undergo or be chosen for something specified”

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Candidate”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 63.

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

candidate f (plural candidates)

1. female equivalent of candidat

• “candidate”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

candidate f

1. plural of candidata

candidate

1. inflection of candidare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

candidate f pl

1. feminine plural of candidato

candidāte

1. vocative singular of candidātus

candidate f (plural candidates)

1. female equivalent of candidat

candidate

1. inflection of candidatar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): /kandiˈdate/ [kãn̪.d̪iˈð̞a.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: can‧di‧da‧te

candidate

1. inflection of candidatar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative