Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Or

Or

(ôr)
,
c
onj.
[OE.
or
,
outher
,
other
,
auther
, either, or, AS.
āwðer
, contr. from
āhwaeðer
;
ā
aye +
hwaeðer
whether. See
Aye
, and
Whether
, and cf.
Either
.]
A particle that marks an alternative;
as, you may read
or
may write, – that is, you may do one of the things at your pleasure, but not both
. It corresponds to
either
.
You may ride either to London
or
to Windsor.
It often connects a series of words or propositions, presenting a choice of either;
as, he may study law,
or
medicine,
or
divinity,
or
he may enter into trade
.
If man’s convenience, health,
Or
safety interfere, his rights and claims
Are paramount.
Cowper.
☞ Or may be used to join as alternatives terms expressing unlike things or ideas (as, is the orange sour or sweet?), or different terms expressing the same thing or idea; as, this is a sphere, or globe.
☞ Or sometimes begins a sentence. In this case it expresses an alternative or subjoins a clause differing from the foregoing. “Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone?”
Matt. vii. 9 (Rev. Ver.).

Or for either is archaic or poetic.
Maugre thine heed, thou must for indigence
Or
steal,
or
beg,
or
borrow thy dispence.
Chaucer.

Or

,
p
rep.
&
adv.
[AS.
[GREEK]r
ere, before. √204. See
Ere
,
p
rep.
&
adv.
]
Ere; before; sooner than.
[Obs.]
But natheless, while I have time and space,
Or
that I forther in this tale pace.
Chaucer.
Or ever
,
Or ere
.
See under
Ever
, and
Ere
.

Or

,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
aurum
gold. Cf.
Aureate
.]
(Her.)
Yellow or gold color, – represented in drawing or engraving by small dots.

Webster 1828 Edition

Or

OR

, a termination of Latin nouns, is a contraction of vir, a man, or from the same radix. The same word vir, is in our mother tongue, wer, and from this we have the English termination er.
It denotes an agent, as in actor, creditor. We annex it to many words of English origin, as in lessor, as we do er to words of Latin and Greek origin, as in astronomer, laborer. In general, or is annexed to words of Latin, and er to those of English origin.

OR

, conj. [It seems that or is a mere contraction of other.]
A connective that marks an alternative. 'You may read or may write;' that is, you may do one of the things at your pleasure, but not both. It corresponds to either. You may either ride to London, or to Windsor. It often connects a series of words or propositions, presenting a choice of either. He may study law or medicine or divinity, or he may enter into trade.
Or sometimes begins a sentence, but in this case it expresses an alternative with the foregoing sentence. Matt. 7 and 9.
In poetry, or is sometimes used for either.
For thy vast bounties are so numberless, that them or to conceal or else to tell is equally impossible.
Or is often used to express an alternative of terms, definitions or explanations of the same thing in different words. Thus we say, a thing is a square, or a figure under four equal sides and angles.
Or ever. In this phrase, or is supposed to be a corruption of ere.

OR

, in heraldry, gold. [L. aurum.]

Definition 2024

Or

Or

See also: or

German Low German

Noun

Or

  1. Alternative spelling of Ohr

or

or

See also: Appendix:Variations of "or"

English

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

Borrowing from Old French or ‎(“yellow”), from Latin aurum ‎(“gold”)

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
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 3

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, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, 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."

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: her · which · have · #26: or · from · this · but

Anagrams

Aromanian

Alternative forms

  • oru, auredz, auredzu, aor, aoru

Etymology

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

Verb

or ‎(past participle uratã)

  1. I pray.

Synonyms

Related terms

Basque

Alternative forms

  • hor (dialectal)
  • ora (dialectal)

Etymology

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

Noun

or

  1. dog

Synonyms

Catalan

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɔɾ/

Etymology

From Latin aurum.

Noun

or m ‎(plural ors)

  1. gold

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔʁ/

Etymology 1

From Latin aurum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- ‎(“glow”).

Noun

or m ‎(plural ors)

  1. gold
  2. (heraldry) or (yellow in heraldry)
Related terms
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

Ido

Etymology

From French or and Italian ora, or.

Conjunction

or

  1. yet; however

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 French

Alternative forms

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

Etymology 1

From Old Norse ǫlr, órir

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

References

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *uz.

Noun

ōr n

  1. origin

Old French

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

See ore.

Adverb

or

  1. Alternative form of ore

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [or]

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

Inflection 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

Related terms

  • ārwa (from plural)

Etymology

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

Similar Results