1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Candidate

CANDIDATE, one who offers himself or is selected by others for an office or place, particularly one who puts up for election to parliament or to any public body. The word is derived from the Latin candidatus, clad in white (candidus). In Rome, candidates for election to the higher magistracies appeared in the Campus Martius, the Forum and other public places, during their canvass, in togas with the white of the natural wool brightened by chalk.