self-electionn.
/ˌsɛlfᵻˈlɛkʃn/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfəˈlɛkʃən/, /ˌsɛlfiˈlɛkʃən/ Election or appointment of oneself to an office or position; (also) election by a body of its own members. Also (in earlier use): the action of choosing a condition, state, etc., by or for oneself.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > [noun] > self-election
self-election1532
1532 R. Whitford Pype or Tonne f. clxxiii Whan a psone, without any forse, compulsion, or nede: doth (of selfe election) wylfully chose pouerte.
?1556 J. Scory tr. St. Augustine Predestiuacion of Saintes xix. f. 48v We might be suche, thorough the selfe election of his grace, wherby he hath made vs accepted in his beloued.
1640 Wits Recreations sig. L4 Two bodies making one, through self election, Two minds, yet having both but one affection.
1788 Animadversions by Delegates for Applic. to Parl. 3 They loudly complained of the self election of their Councils.
1790 By-stander 129 Whether or not Alexander was conscious that this self election..would not equally hold good with posterity.
1835 Penny Cycl. III. 476/1 Their weakness..lay in the system of self-election of those magistrates.
1880 Newcastle Courant 17 Sept. 4/5 Sir William Harcourt's self-election to a sort of Chief-Cadiship in England has been rather unlucky.
1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River ii. xxxvi. 289 Whether by appointment or self-election, she had come to regard herself as a kind of embassadress for Professor Hatcher's work.
2014 Irish Times (Nexis) 3 Apr. 16 Those who argued a separatist case..often linked ideals of self-election to those of self-government.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1532