or

English Wikipedia has an article on:

or

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ɔː(ɹ)/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ɔɹ/
  • (St. Louis (Missouri)) IPA^(key): /ɑɹ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Homophones: oar, ore, o'er, awe (non-rhotic accents)
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(r)
• (unstressed)
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ɚ/

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".

   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

• and/or

Translations

See also

• neither
• nor
• i.e.

Etymology 2

From Etymology 1 (sense 2 above)

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Logical OR

Wikipedia

or (plural ors)

1. (logic, electronics) Alternative form of OR

See also

• and
• nand
• nor
• xor

Etymology 3

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

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Or (heraldry)

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

• (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

• gold

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.
   • 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

• R&O, RO, r/o

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

• angrec, ngrec
• pricad
• ncljin
• pãlãcãrsescu, pãrãcãlsescu
• rog

Related terms

• urari / urare
• urat
• urãciuni

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

• txakur
• zakur

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

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈɔr/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɾ/

Noun

or m (plural ors)

1. gold
2. (heraldry) or

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔʁ

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)

Related terms

• aurifère
• dorer
• orfèvre

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: lò

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

• “or” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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.

Conjunction

Lua error in Module:headword at line 453: Entries for this language must be placed in the Appendix: namespace.

1. but, yet

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

• ormai
• or ora
• or sono

Etymology 1

Determiner

or

1. Alternative form of youre

References

• “your (pron.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 May 2018.

Etymology 2

Determiner

or

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

References

• “her(e (pron.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 June 2018.

Alternative forms

• aur

Etymology

From Old French or.

Noun

or m (uncountable)

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

Descendants

• French: or
  • Haitian Creole: lò

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

Oreslekten

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

• older

References

• “or” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

or

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

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

• “or” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oːr/

Noun

ōr n

1. origin, beginning

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller, “ōr”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1898.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔr/

Etymology 1

From Latin aurum.

Noun

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

1. gold (metal)
   • circa 1250, Marie de France, Guigemar

     En bacins d'or ewe aporterent

     They brought water in basins made of gold

2. gold (color)
3. (by extension) blond(e) color

Descendants

• Middle French: or, aur
  • French: or
    • Haitian Creole: lò
• Walloon: ôr
• → English: or

Etymology 2

See ore.

Adverb

or

1. Alternative form of ore

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

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Latin aurum.

Noun

or m

1. (Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader) gold

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.

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

• ob

Noun

or n

1. a mite

Declension

Synonyms

• kvalster

Anagrams

• ro

Etymology

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

Noun

or n

1. wood

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)