What does selectivity mean?
Selectivity is the quality of choosing carefully or choosing only among particular options. It can describe a process, as when a curator exercises selectivity in choosing works for an exhibition, or a person's disposition, as when a club is noted for the selectivity of its admissions. The word may also carry a slightly negative implication of excessive restriction, suggesting that standards are unusually demanding or that some options are excluded without sufficient reason. In technical fields, selectivity has a more specialized meaning: the ability to distinguish a target from other possible targets. This applies to drugs that act on particular cells, chemical reactions favoring certain products, and devices that receive one kind of signal while rejecting others. Selectivity is therefore useful both as a general description of judicious choice and as a precise concept in disciplines concerned with discrimination, attention, economics, and biological specificity.
nounThe quality or practice of choosing carefully among alternatives. In specialized contexts, it means the ability to distinguish a particular target, type, or group from others.
- The quality of being careful and selective when making choices.
- The ability to distinguish one particular target, type, or group from others, especially in technical contexts.
"The club is known for the selectivity of its membership."
"Employers showed considerable selectivity when reviewing applications from experienced candidates."
"The drug's high selectivity allows it to target diseased cells while affecting healthy ones far less."
The plural is uncommon; the singular is normally used even when discussing several examples or kinds of selectivity.
"The study compared the selectivities of different filtering systems."
From “to select” to choosing everything except the right thing: selectivity is what makes careful choices possible.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does selectivity come from?
Selectivity developed from selective, which comes through French from Latin selectus, the past participle of seligere, meaning “to choose” or “pick out.” The Latin verb combines se-, meaning “apart,” with legere, meaning “to gather or pick,” and thus literally conveys picking something out from others. The suffix -ity forms the abstract noun selectivity from the adjective selective.
How selectivity is actually used
In general use, the word often implies careful or limited choice and can sometimes suggest an exclusive or difficult-to-enter standard. In science, economics, and cognitive psychology, it has more precise meanings involving the ability to distinguish targets or the range of choices available.
Easily confused with selectivity
Selective is primarily an adjective or verb describing the act of making choices, whereas selectivity names the quality or capacity of being selective.