From , from candidus ("dazzling white, shining, clear") + -ātus, in reference to Roman candidates wearing bleached white togas as a symbol of purity at a public forum.

• (British) IPA: /ˈkæn.dɪdət/, /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/
• (America) IPA: /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/, /ˈkæn.dɪ.dɪt/
• (America, colloquially) IPA: /ˈkæn.ɪ.dɪt/, /ˈkæn.ɪ.deɪt/

candidate (plural candidates)

1. A person who is running in an election.

   Smith announced he was the party's candidate for the next election.

2. A person who is applying for a job.

   All candidates who miss the deadline or make a spelling mistake in their applications are automatically rejected.

3. A participant in an examination.

   Candidates must remain silent for the entirety of the exam.

4. Something or somebody that may be suitable.

   After being presented with various suitors, she decided none of the candidates were the kind of man she was looking for.

5. (genetics) A gene which may play a role in a given disease.

• French: candidat, candidate
• German: Kandidat, Kandidatin, Wahlbewerber, Wahlbewerberin
• Italian: candidato, candidata
• Portuguese: candidato, candidata
• Russian: кандида́т
• Spanish: candidato, candidata

• German: Bewerber, Bewerberin, Stellenbewerber, Stellenbewerberin, Anwärter, Anwärterin, Stellenanwärter, Stellenanwärterin, Kandidat, Kandidatin, Jobkandidat, Jobkandidatin

• Italian: candidato, candidata
• Portuguese: candidato, candidata
• Spanish: candidato, candidata, participante

candidate (candidates, present participle candidating; simple past and past participle candidated)

1. (uncommon) To stand as a candidate for an office, especially a religious one.
   • 1906, Year Book of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, page 196:

     The matter of candidating for a pulpit is not a matter of difference between congregations and Rabbis, but between Rabbis themselves.

2. (nonstandard, chiefly, in jargon and NNES) To make or name (something) a candidate (for use, for study as a next project, for investigation as a possible cause of something, etc).

• French: candidater