or

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "or"

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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[edit]

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".
    In Ohio, anyone under the age of 18 who wants a tattoo or body piercing needs the consent of a parent or guardian.
    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).
    • 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[edit]
Translations[edit]
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Etymology 1 (sense 2 above)

Noun[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

or (plural ors)

  1. (logic, electronics) Alternative form of OR

See also[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (gold or yellow tincture): o., Or
Related terms[edit]
  • Au (chemical symbol for gold)
Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

or (not comparable)

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

Etymology 4[edit]

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

Adverb[edit]

or

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

Preposition[edit]

or

  1. (now archaic or dialect) Before; ere.
    • 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.

Anagrams[edit]

Aromanian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

or (past participle uratã)

  1. I pray.

Synonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Basque[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • hor (dialectal)
  • ora (dialectal)

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

or anim

  1. dog

Synonyms[edit]

Catalan[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

or m (plural ors)

  1. gold
  2. (heraldry) or

Derived terms[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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[edit]

or m (plural ors)

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

Etymology 2[edit]

From Vulgar Latin hā horā, alteration of hāc horā.

Adverb[edit]

or

  1. (obsolete) now, presently

Conjunction[edit]

or

  1. yet, however, now

Further reading[edit]

Ido[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from French or, Italian ora and Spanish ahora.

Pronunciation[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

or

  1. now, but (in argument)

Usage notes[edit]

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[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

or

  1. but, yet

Italian[edit]

Adverb[edit]

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[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Determiner[edit]

or

  1. Alternative form of youre
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Determiner[edit]

or

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

Middle French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French or.

Noun[edit]

or m (uncountable)

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

Descendants[edit]

  • French: or
    • Haitian Creole: lò

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse ǫlr, órir

Noun[edit]

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

  1. an alder (tree of genus Alnus)

Synonyms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

From Old Norse ór

Preposition[edit]

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[edit]

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ōr n

  1. origin, beginning

References[edit]

  • ōr in Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

Old French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin aurum.

Noun[edit]

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

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

Etymology 2[edit]

See ore.

Adverb[edit]

or

  1. Alternative form of ore

Romanian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

(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[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aurum.

Noun[edit]

or m

  1. (Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader) gold

Scots[edit]

Etymology[edit]

A variant of ere, obsolete in modern English.

Conjunction[edit]

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[edit]

Not archaic, but rare amongst young people.

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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

  1. hymn, incantation, petition, prayer

Synonyms[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

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

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

or n

  1. a mite

Declension[edit]

Declension of or 
SingularPlural
IndefiniteDefiniteIndefiniteDefinite
Nominativeororetororen
Genitiveorsoretsorsorens

Synonyms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Tocharian A[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

or n

  1. wood

Tocharian B[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

or n

  1. wood

Related terms[edit]

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