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Elite (also spelled Élite) is taken from the Latin, eligere, "to elect". In sociology as in general usage, the élite (the "elect," from French) is a relatively small dominant group within a larger society, which enjoys a privileged status which is upheld by individuals of lower social status within the structure of a group. When applied to an individual, as in the phrase "many elites come from this squad," the usage quite economically both refers to an individual within that class and establishes the speaker as non-elite.