candidate

Definitions

From Latin candidatus 'clothed in white,' from candidus 'white.' A Roman seeking office whitened his toga with chalk (toga candida) to look pure and spotless to voters. The 'man in white' became the word for anyone running for a position — the white robe is gone, the candidate remains.

Why It Means This

Candidate is the family's best story. In Rome, office-seekers paraded in chalk-whitened togas to advertise a clean, untainted character — candida means 'bright white.' Voters were meant to read the whiteness as honesty. Two thousand years later the chalk and toga are forgotten, but the implied promise — that a candidate should be clean — is still folded into the word.

Common Collocations

• 1.presidential candidate总统候选人
• 2.job candidate求职者
• 3.strong candidate强有力的候选人
• 4.leading candidate领先的候选人
• 5.candidate for……的人选

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Three candidates are running for the party's nomination.

• 2.

  We interviewed five candidates for the engineering role.

• 3.

  The old bridge is a prime candidate for replacement.