I. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷_bəl adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, from Late Latin eligibilis, from Latin eligere to choose + -ibilis -ible — more at elect
1. : fitted or qualified to be chosen or used : entitled to something
only native-born citizens are eligible to the office of president
eligible for benefits
the book is not eligible for copyright in this country
not eligible to play in the championship game
anyone with an eligible craft … is invited to enter — Geneva J. Yockey
2. : worthy to be chosen or selected : advantageous , preferable , desirable
recorded his wonder that so eligible a spot was not finally chosen — A.T.Quiller-Couch
commenting upon the eligible circumstances of the paupers — G.E.Fussell
had chosen this bright Sunday morning as eligible for churchgoing — George Eliot
specifically : suitable or desirable for marriage
flirted with … all the bachelor squires who seemed eligible — W.M.Thackeray
disappointed mothers of other more eligible damsels — Florence Bullock
3. archaic : subject to choice or adoption : capable of being adopted : possible
the villainy and shallowness of rulers … are just as eligible to these states as to any foreign despotism — Walt Whitman
II. noun
( -s )
: one that is eligible
I hope all the rest of the eligibles register too — A.E.Stevenson †1965