Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ours

/ˈaʊɚz/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.16 in modern English

Syllables: ours
IPA: /ˈaʊɚz/

4

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

pron

That or those belonging to us.

pron

That or those belonging to us.

pron

That or those belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.

pron

That or those belonging to people in general.

pron

That or those belonging to everyone being addressed.

Colloquial

pron

That or those belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.

Colloquial

pron

Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.

Colloquial

pron

Our house or home.

Informal

Example Sentences

"You can't take that! It's ours!"
"Could we ask you to move, please. These seats are ours."
"This beach is a favourite of ours."
"We should ask for it back. After all, it is ours."
"Don't you think that ours looks much nicer than theirs?"
"French food is better than ours."

Etymology

From Middle English oures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to our + -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced ourn (from Middle English ouren) in standard speech.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: oures
Suffix: our

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈaʊɚz/
British English: /ˈaʊəz/

Usage

Inflected Forms

our's (alternative, obsolete)

Phrases

both of ours friend of ours of ours

Homonyms

hours

Rhymes With

hours powers flowers towers showers superpowers bowers empowers devours flours sours overpowers

Questions

How do you pronounce ours?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈaʊɚz/.
What does ours mean?: That or those belonging to us.
Where does ours come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce ours

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ours”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈaʊɚz/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ours”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ours” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.