[F. élite (in OFr. eslite, elite; see prec.) selection, choice; in mod. use concr. that which is chosen:—med.L. ēlecta choice, f. L. ēligĕre: see ELECT v.] The choice part or flower (of society, or of any body or class of persons).
1823. Byron, Juan, XIII. lxxx. With other Countesses of Blank—but rank; At once the ‘lie’ and the ‘élite’ of crowds.
1844. W. H. Kelly, trans. L. Blanc’s Hist. Ten Y., I. 443. The élite of the Russian nobility.
1880. Goldw. Smith, in Atl. Monthly, No. 268. 212/1. If we take into consideration … not merely the élite of a comparatively civilized generation.
