ELITE

noun Etymology: French élite, from Old French eslite, from feminine of eslit, past participle of eslire to choose, from Latin eligere Date: 1823 1. the choice part ; cream , the best of a class , the socially superior part of society , a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence , a member of such an ~, a typewriter type providing 12 characters to the linear inch, ~ adjective