or
/oɹ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.54 in modern English
2
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
conj
Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
conj
An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms: the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
conj
Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
conj
Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).
conj
Connects two equivalent names.
noun
Alternative form of OR.
Example Sentences
- "You may stay or go."
- "He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what."
- "It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold!"
- "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."
- "The country Myanmar, or Burma"
- "A man of 18 or 20 years"
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”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian of (“or”), Cimbrian odar, òdar (“or”), Dutch of, oft, ofte (“or”), German, Luxembourgish, and Vilamovian oder (“or”), Low German of, àder, àr, åder, år (“or”), Yiddish אָדער (oder, “or”), Icelandic eða, eður (“or”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌿 (aiþþau, “or; otherwise”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /oɹ/
- British English: /ɔː(ɹ)/