or

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word or. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word or, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say or in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word or you have here. The definition of the word or will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofor, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Appendix:Variations of "or"

Translingual

Symbol

or

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Odia.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1

From Middle English or; partially contracted from other, auther, from Old English āþor, āwþer, āhwæþer ("some, any, either"; > either); and partially from Middle English oththe, from Old English oþþe, from Proto-Germanic *efþau (“or”).

Pronunciation

Conjunction

or

  1. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
    You may either stay or come.
    He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what.
  2. (logic) An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms, the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
  3. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
  4. Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).
    It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold!
  5. Connects two equivalent names.
    The country Myanmar, or Burma
Usage notes
  • (connecting alternative terms): When not implied by the meaning of the conjoins, it is generally ambiguous whether “or” is intended in an exclusive or inclusive sense. In speech, various means may be used to convey exclusivity, such as stress on the word “or” or a rising intonation before it. In a formal or technical register, and/or may be used to specify inclusivity.
Translations
See also

Etymology 2

From Etymology 1 (sense 2 above).

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

or (plural ors)

  1. (logic, electronics) Alternative form of OR

See also

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Middle French or (“yellow”), from Old French or, from Latin aurum (“gold”). Doublet of aurum.

Pronunciation

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

or (countable and uncountable, plural ors)

  1. (heraldry) The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.
    • 1909, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry:
      The metals are gold and silver, these being termed "or" and "argent".
    • 1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:
      In engraving, "Or" is expressed by dots.
    or:  
Synonyms
  • (gold or yellow tincture): o., Or
Related terms
  • Au (chemical symbol for gold)
Translations

Adjective

or (not comparable)

  1. (heraldry) Of gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 4

Late Old English ār, from Old Norse ár. Compare ere.

Adverb

or

  1. (obsolete) Early (on).
  2. (obsolete) Earlier, previously.

Preposition

or

  1. (now archaic or dialect) Before; ere. Followed by "ever" or "ere".
    • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 12:6-7:
      Or euer the siluer corde be loosed, or the golden bowle be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountaine, or the wheele broken at the cisterne. Then shall the dust returne to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall returne vnto God who gaue it.
    • 1834, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
      I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
      But or ever a prayer had gusht,
      A wicked whisper came, and made
      My heart as dry as dust.
    • 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods‎, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3:
      And Time went forth into the worlds to obey the commands of the gods, yet he cast furtive glances at his masters, and the gods distrusted Time because he had known the worlds or ever the gods became.

References

  1. ^ Huddleston, Rodney (1988) English Grammar: An Outline, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 198–99

Anagrams

Aromanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin ōrō. Compare Daco-Romanian ura, urez.

Verb

or first-singular present indicative (past participle uratã)

  1. to pray

Synonyms

Related terms

Basque

Alternative forms

Etymology

1103; variant of hor, from Proto-Basque *hoŕ. Mostly replaced by zakur.

Pronunciation

Noun

or anim

  1. dog

Declension

Declension of or (animate, ending in tap -r)
indefinite singular plural
absolutive or ora orak
ergative orek orak orek
dative ori orari orei
genitive oren oraren oren
comitative orekin orarekin orekin
causative orengatik orarengatik orengatik
benefactive orentzat orarentzat orentzat
instrumental orez oraz orez
inessive orengan orarengan orengan
locative — — —
allative orengana orarengana orengana
terminative orenganaino orarenganaino orenganaino
directive orenganantz orarenganantz orenganantz
destinative orenganako orarenganako orenganako
ablative orengandik orarengandik orengandik
partitive orik — —
prolative ortzat — —

Synonyms

Further reading

  • "or" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus
  • “or” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus

Catalan

Chemical element
Au
Previous: platí (Pt)
Next: mercuri (Hg)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin aurum, from Proto-Italic *auzom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”), from *h₂ews- (“to dawn, become light, become red”).

Pronunciation

Noun

or m (plural ors)

  1. gold
  2. (heraldry) or

Derived terms

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle French or, from Old French or, from Latin aurum, from Proto-Italic *auzom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”), from *h₂ews- (“to dawn, become light, become red”).

Noun

or m (plural ors)

  1. gold
  2. (heraldry) or (yellow in heraldry)
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
  • Haitian Creole: lò
See also

Etymology 2

From Old French ore, from Vulgar Latin hā horā, alteration of hāc horā (“(in) this hour”, ablative). Compare Spanish ahora, Portuguese agora.

Adverb

or

  1. (obsolete) now, presently

Conjunction

or

  1. yet, however, now, that said (introduces the second term in a syllogism)

Usage notes

This is often used to introduce contrasting information (like English however). However, the information need not be contrasting, but can simply be supplemental information that leads to a subsequent conclusion.

Further reading

Ido

Etymology

Borrowing from French or, Italian ora and Spanish ahora.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

or

  1. now, but (in argument)

Usage notes

Or expresses not only a sequence of two propositions, but induces a new argument, a further premise, explanation, motive. When the premise (motive) follows the conclusion, nam is used instead.

Italian

Adverb

or (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of ora (“now”), used almost exclusively in the forms or ora (“just now”) and or sono (“ago”).

Derived terms

Anagrams

Japanese

Particle

or(オア) • (oa) 

  1. Alternative form of オア (“or”)

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English ōr, from Proto-West Germanic *ōʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ōsaz, form Proto-Indo-European *h₃éh₁os (“mouth”).

Pronunciation

Noun

or

  1. (Early Middle English, hapax) beginning, start

Etymology 2

Determiner

or

  1. (chiefly Early Middle English and West Midland) Alternative form of here (“their”)

Etymology 3

Noun

or

  1. Alternative form of ore (“honour”)

Etymology 4

Noun

or

  1. Alternative form of ore (“ore”)

Etymology 5

Determiner

or

  1. Alternative form of your

Middle French

Alternative forms

  • aur (alternate Latinized spelling)

Etymology

From Old French or.

Noun

or m (uncountable)

  1. gold (metal)
  2. gold (color)

Descendants

  • French: or
    • Haitian Creole: lò
  • → English: or

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Old Norse ǫlr, órir.

Noun

or f or m (definite singular ora or oren, indefinite plural orer, definite plural orene)

  1. an alder (tree of genus Alnus)

Synonyms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse ǫlr, órir. Akin to English alder.

Noun

or f (definite singular ora, indefinite plural orer, definite plural orene)

or m (definite singular oren, indefinite plural orar, definite plural orane)

  1. an alder (tree of genus Alnus)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse ór.

Alternative forms

Preposition

or

  1. out of
  2. from
    • 1956, Olav H. Hauge, Gjer ein annan mann ei beine:
      Han kom or fjellet, skulde heim, […] .
      He came from the mountain, was heading home .

References

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ōzô, *ōsaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃éh₁os (“mouth”).

Pronunciation

Noun

ōr n

  1. origin, beginning

Descendants

  • Middle English: or (early, hapax)

References

Old French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Latin aurum.

Noun

or oblique singular, m (oblique plural ors, nominative singular ors, nominative plural or)

  1. gold (metal)
  2. gold (color)
  3. (by extension) blond(e) color
Descendants
  • Middle French: or, aur
    • French: or
      • Haitian Creole: lò
    • → English: or
  • Walloon: ôr

Etymology 2

See ore.

Adverb

or

  1. Alternative form of ore

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

Adjective

ōr

  1. Old West Frisian form of ōther

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Romanian

Pronunciation

Verb

(ele/ei) or (modal auxiliary, third-person plural form of vrea, used with infinitives to form presumptive tenses)

  1. (they) might
    fiindcă or avea ceva pe care noi nu-l avem, va trebui să așteptăm puțin
    being that they might have something that we don't, we will need to wait a bit

Verb

or (modal auxiliary, ? form of avea, used with ? to form ? tenses)

  1. (informal, sometimes proscribed) Variation of o in the third person plural.
    Or să vină într-un minut.
    They will come in a minute.

Adverb

or

  1. Alternative form of ori

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin aurum.

Noun

or m

  1. (Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader) gold

Scots

Etymology

A variant of ere, obsolete in modern English.

Conjunction

or

  1. before or until (only in certain senses)
    It'll nae be lang or A gang ma holiday.- It'll not be long until/ before I go on holiday

Usage notes

Not archaic, but rare amongst young people.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Possibly from Old Irish amar (“song, singing”). See òran.

Noun

or m (genitive singular ora, plural ora or orthachan or orrachan or orthannan)

  1. hymn, incantation, petition, prayer

Synonyms

Verb

or (past dh’or, future oridh, verbal noun oradh, past participle orte)

  1. chant, sing
    Tha Màiri ag oradh. ― Mary is singing.

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology

Related to orna (“moldy, spoiled by mites”), Danish oret, of obscure ultimate origin. Compare oren (“impure, dirty, unclean, rotten”).

Noun

or n

  1. any mite in the superfamily Acaroidea, order Astigmata

Usage notes

Popular as a crossword entry.

Declension

Declension of or 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative or oret or oren
Genitive ors orets ors orens

See also

References

  1. ^ “or”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok ‎ (in Swedish), 1937

Anagrams

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dóru, with unexplained loss of initial */d/. Compare Tocharian B or.

Noun

or n

  1. wood

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dóru, with unexplained loss of initial */d/. Compare Tocharian A or.

Noun

or n

  1. wood

Related terms

Yola

Conjunction

or

  1. Alternative form of ar
    • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 78:
      Wich ad wough bethther kwingokee or baagchoosee vursth?
      Whether had we better churn or bake first?
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 9, page 88:
      Na, now or neveare! w' cry't t' Tommeen,
      Nay, now or never! we cry'd to Tommy,
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 11, page 88:
      Up caame ee ball, an a dap or a kewe
      Up came the ball, and a tap or a shove
    • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4, page 104:
      Hea pryet ich mought na ha chicke or hen,
      He prayed I might not have chicken nor hen,

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia