From Latin *excolligere*, meaning "to gather out" or "to pick out," formed from *ex-* (out) + *colligere* (to collect, gather). Over time, the Latin cluster evolved into the characteristically Italian *-gli-* sound, arriving at the modern form *scegliere*.

In Italian, *scegliere* appears in many everyday expressions. A common phrase is *scegliere tra l'incudine e il martello* — "to choose between the anvil and the hammer" — equivalent to the English idiom "between a rock and a hard place." Italians also use the noun form *scelta* (choice) very frequently, as in *non c'è scelta* ("there's no choice").