elite

Elite comes from Middle English elit, borrowed from Old French elit/eslit, meaning 'chosen, elected.' That was the past participle of elire/eslire, 'to choose, elect,' itself from Latin eligere.

The word began as simply the past-participle form of 'to choose,' describing something already selected, before settling into English as a noun for a select group.

It shares its Latin root, eligere, with 'elect' — both descend from the same idea of picking something out.