Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - elite

 noun  Etymology: French elite, from Old French eslite, from feminine of eslit, past participle of eslire to choose, from Latin eligere  Date: 1823  1.  a. singular or plural in construction the choice part ; cream the ~ of the entertainment world  b. singular or plural in construction the best of a class superachievers who dominate the computer ~ — Marilyn Chase  c. singular or plural in construction the socially superior part of society how the ~ live — A P World how the French-speaking ~…was changing — Economist  d. a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence members of the ruling ~ the intellectual ~s of the country  e. a member of such an ~ — usually used in plural the ~s…, pursuing their studies in Europe — Robert Wernick  2. a typewriter type providing 12 characters to the linear inch  • ~ adjective ELITE  chiefly British variant of elite