Candidate

//ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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."

  2. 2
    a politician who is running for public office wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who is thought likely or worthy to gain a position or privilege. figuratively
  4. 4
    someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.) wordnet
  5. 5
    A participant in an examination.

    "Candidates must remain silent for the entirety of the exam."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    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."

  2. 7
    A student taking a degree who has finished the coursework but has other remaining requirements such as a dissertation.

    "a Ph.D. candidate"

  3. 8
    The recipient of certain academic degrees, now mainly awarded in Scandinavia.
  4. 9
    A gene which may play a role in a given disease.
Verb
  1. 1
    To stand as a candidate for an office, typically for a religious one. uncommon

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

  2. 2
    To make white; to whitewash. figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive, uncommon
  3. 3
    To make or name (something) as a candidate (to be chosen or deemed suitable for a purpose). nonstandard, uncommon

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

Etymology

Etymology 1

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).

Etymology 2

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).

Etymology 3

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

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