*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Eloi

From French Éloi, from Medieval Latin Eligius, chiefly after Saint Eligius, from Latin ēligere (“to pick, to choose from”) + -ius (“-y: forming adjectives and names”).

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
name

A male given name.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From French Éloi, from Medieval Latin Eligius, chiefly after Saint Eligius, from Latin ēligere (“to pick, to choose from”) + -ius (“-y: forming adjectives and names”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "Éloi"
      },
      "expansion": "French Éloi"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "Eligius"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin Eligius"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "ēligō",
        "4": "ēligere",
        "5": "to pick, to choose from"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin ēligere (“to pick, to choose from”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Éloi",
      "Éloi#French"
    ],
    [
      "Eligius",
      "Eligius#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ēligere",
      "eligo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "pick",
      "pick"
    ],
    [
      "choose",
      "choose"
    ],
    [
      "-ius",
      "-ius#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y"
    ],
    [
      "form",
      "form"
    ],
    [
      "adjective",
      "adjective"
    ],
    [
      "name",
      "name"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A male given name."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "ace54547ff7d5a5f7a196d3b1228f0891b5c0ba939dffaece318a1873fdc50fb",
      "rawRecordSha256": "953157d9f4e2c719b14205607fc15ab2773f7dc36a3d4d827015d9bf58c105d9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1211138
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A group of people who have been domesticated or intentionally dumbed down.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895 as a fictional species in The Time Machine.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {},
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "coinage",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "H. G. Wells",
        "in": "1895",
        "nat": "British",
        "occ": "science fiction author"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895"
    }
  ],
  "links": [],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A group of people who have been domesticated or intentionally dumbed down."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "recordId": "14f3e1572dc4e338637d5e01475f3c1863b9b417a4a364afd98736d4eb53fc85",
      "rawRecordSha256": "d2e3958121be521d01780a00a6cfc718c361253130f77ebdaea6adb1370ff531",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1211139
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Eloi →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-RWxvaQ