or

See also: Appendix:Variations of "or"

English

Pronunciation

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”).

Conjunction

or

  1. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc. each of which could make a passage true. In English, this is the "inclusive or." The "exclusive or" is formed by "either […] or".
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page 5
      The sporophyte foot is also characteristic: it is very broad and more or less lenticular or disciform, as broad or broader than the calyptra stalk […] , and is sessile on the calyptra base […]
  2. Logical union of two sets of values. There are two forms, an exclusive or and an inclusive or.
  3. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
  4. Otherwise; a consequence of the condition that the previous is false
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
    It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold!
  5. Connects two equivalent names.
    the country Myanmar or Burma
Synonyms
Translations
See also

Etymology 2

From Etymology 1 (sense 2 above)

Noun

or (plural ors)

  1. (logic, electronics) Alternative form of OR

See also

Etymology 3

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

Noun

or (uncountable)

  1. (heraldry) The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.
    1909, The metals are gold and silver, these being termed "or" and "argent". — Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry
    1889, In engraving, "Or" is expressed by dots. — Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry
Synonyms
  • (gold or yellow tincture): o., Or
  • 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.
    • 1485 July 31, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London: William Caxton], OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur, London: Published by David Nutt, in the Strand, 1889, OCLC 890162034:
      , Book VII:
      "Sey ye never so," seyde Sir Bors, "for many tymys or this she hath bene wroth with you, and aftir that she was the firste that repented hit."

Anagrams

Aromanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Verb

or (past participle uratã)

  1. I pray.

Synonyms

Basque

Alternative forms

  • hor (dialectal)
  • ora (dialectal)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Noun

or

  1. dog

Synonyms

Catalan

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

Etymology

From a variant of Old Occitan aur, 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

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔʁ/
  • audio(file)

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)
See also
  • Appendix:Colors

Etymology 2

From Vulgar Latin hā horā, alteration of hāc horā.

Adverb

or

  1. (obsolete) now, presently

Conjunction

or

  1. yet, however

Further reading

Ido

Etymology

Borrowing from French or, Italian ora and Spanish ahora.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔr/

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.

Interlingue

Conjunction

or

  1. but, yet

Italian

Adverb

or

  1. Apocopic form of ora (now), used almost exclusively in the archaic forms or ora (just now) and or sono (ago), the latter with an indication of the time elapsed until the present
    Tre anni or sono comprammo questa casa – It is (now) three years since we bought this house / Three years ago we bought this house
    Ho trovato quasi più giovani e certo più belle le signore ch'io conobbi or sono dodici anni a Bologna – I found the ladies I knew twelve years ago in Bologna almost(?) younger and certainly more beautiful
    — Ugo Foscolo

Derived terms

Middle English

Etymology 1

Determiner

or

  1. Alternative form of youre
References

Etymology 2

Determiner

or

  1. (chiefly early and West Midland dialectal) Alternative form of here (“their”)
References

Middle French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French or.

Noun

or m (uncountable)

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

Descendants

  • French: or

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse ǫlr, órir

Noun

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

  1. an alder (tree of genus Alnus)

Synonyms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /uːr/
  • Homophone: ord

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

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

Etymology

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

Noun

ōr n

  1. origin

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin aurum.

Noun

or 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
    • French: or

Etymology 2

See ore.

Adverb

or

  1. Alternative form of ore

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

Romansch

Alternative forms

  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) aur
  • (Surmiran) ôr

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

Swedish

Noun

or n

  1. a mite

Declension

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

Synonyms

  • kvalster

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
  • ārwa (from plural)
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