or definition | Dictionary.com

or

1 [awr; unstressed er]

–conjunction

1.	(used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives): books or magazines; to be or not to be.

2.	(used to connect alternative terms for the same thing): the Hawaiian, or Sandwich, Islands.

3.	(used in correlation): either … or; or … or; whether … or.

4.	(used to correct or rephrase what was previously said): His autobiography, or rather memoirs, will soon be ready for publication.

5.	otherwise; or else: Be here on time, or we'll leave without you.

6.	Logic. the connective used in disjunction.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME, orig. the second, unstressed member of correlative other … or, earlier other … other, OE āther … oththe, ā-hwæther … oththe, for oththe … oththe either … or; cf. ay ¹ , whether

Usage note:
See and/or, either.

or

2 [awr]

–preposition, conjunction Chiefly Irish, Scot., and English.

before; ere.

Origin:
bef. 950; ME, OE ār soon, early; c. ON ār, Goth air early; cf. OE ǣr soon, before, ere

or

3 [awr]

Heraldry.

–noun

1.	the tincture, or metal, gold: represented either by gold or by yellow.

–adjective

2.	of the tincture, or metal, gold: a lion or.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < MF < L aurum gold

OR

[awr]

–noun

a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when either or both operands are positive.

Origin:
1940–45

OR

1.	Law. on (one's own) recognizance.

2.	operating room.

3.	operations research.

4.	Oregon (approved esp. for use with zip code).

5.	owner's risk.

-or

a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, directly or through Anglo-French, usually denoting a condition or property of things or persons, sometimes corresponding to qualitative adjectives ending in -id⁴ (ardor; honor; horror; liquor; pallor; squalor; torpor; tremor); a few other words that originally ended in different suffixes have been assimilated to this group (behavior; demeanor; glamour).

Origin:
< L; in some cases continuing ME -our < AF, OF < L -ōr-, s. of -or, earlier -os

Usage note:
While the -or spelling of the suffix -or¹ is characteristic of American English, there are occasional exceptions, as in advertising copy, where spellings such as colour and favour seek to suggest the allure and exclusiveness of a product. The spelling glamour is somewhat more common than glamor—not actually an instance of -or¹ , but conformed to it orthographically in the course of the word's history. In British English -our is still the spelling in most widespread use, -or being commonly retained when certain suffixes are added, as in coloration, honorary, honorific, laborious, odoriferous. The English of the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) tends to mirror British practice, whereas Canadian English shares with the U.S. a preference for -or but with -our spellings as freely used variants.
The suffix -or² is now spelled -or in all forms of English, with the exception of the word savior, often spelled saviour in the U.S. as well as in Britain, esp. with reference to Jesus.

-or

a suffix forming animate or inanimate agent nouns, occurring originally in loanwords from Anglo-French (debtor; lessor; tailor; traitor); it now functions in English as an orthographic variant of -er ¹ , usually joined to bases of Latin origin, in imitation of borrowed Latin words containing the suffix -tor (and its alternant -sor). The association with Latinate vocabulary may impart a learned look to the resultant formations, which often denote machines or other less tangible entities which behave in an agentlike way: descriptor; plexor; projector; repressor; sensor; tractor.

Origin:
ME < AF, OF -o(u)r < L -ōr-, s. of -or, extracted from -tōr -tor by construing the t as the ending of the ptp. (hence L factor maker, equiv. to fac(ere) to make + -tor, was analyzed as fact(us), ptp. of facere + -or); merged with AF, OF -ëo(u)r < L -ātōr- -ator; cf. -eur

O.R.

owner's risk.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To or

op·er·at·ing room (ŏp'ə-rā'tĭng)
n. Abbr. OR
A room equipped for performing surgical operations.

or¹ (ôr; ər when unstressed)

conj.

1. Used to indicate an alternative, usually only before the last term of a series: hot or cold; this, that, or the other.
2. Used to indicate the second of two alternatives, the first being preceded by either or whether: Your answer is either ingenious or wrong. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
3. Archaic Used to indicate the first of two alternatives, with the force of either or whether.
Used to indicate a synonymous or equivalent expression: acrophobia, or fear of great heights.
Used to indicate uncertainty or indefiniteness: two or three.

[Middle English, from other, or (from Old English, from oththe) and from outher (from Old English āhwæther, āther; see either).]

Usage Note: When all the elements in a series connected by or are singular, the verb they govern is singular: Tom or Jack is coming. Beer, ale, or wine is included in the charge. When all the elements are plural, the verb is plural. When the elements do not agree in number, some grammarians have suggested that the verb should agree in number with the nearest element: Tom or his sisters are coming. The girls or their brother is coming. Cold symptoms or headache is the usual first sign. Other grammarians, however, have argued that such constructions are inherently illogical and that the only solution is to revise the sentence to avoid the problem of agreement: Either Tom is coming or his sisters are. The usual first sign may be either cold symptoms or a headache. See Usage Notes at and/or, either, neither, nor¹.

or² (ôr)

conj. Before. Followed by ever or ere: "I doubt he will be dead or ere I come" (Shakespeare).
prep. Before.

[Middle English, variant of er, from Old English ǣr, soon, early, and from Old Norse ār; see ayer- in Indo-European roots.]

or³ (ôr)

n. Heraldry
Gold, represented in heraldic engraving by a white field sprinkled with small dots.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aurum.]

OR¹ (ôr)

n. A logical operator that returns a true value if one or both operands are true.

OR²
abbr.

operating room
operations research
Oregon
owner's risk

Or·e·gon (ôr'ĭ-gən, -gŏn', ŏr'-)

Abbr. OR or Ore.
A state of the northwest United States in the Pacific Northwest. It was admitted as the 33rd state in 1859. Claimed by the United States after Capt. Robert Gray explored the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, the area was further explored by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and was soon the site of fur-trading posts. The Oregon Country, a region encompassing all the land from the California border to Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, was held jointly by Great Britain and the United States from 1818 until 1846, when the international boundary was fixed at the 49th parallel. In 1848 the Oregon Territory was created, including all of present-day Washington and Idaho. The state's current boundaries were established in 1853. Salem is the capital and Portland the largest city. Population: 3,750,000.
Or'e·go'ni·an (-gō'nē-ən) adj. & n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Or\, conj. [OE. or, outher, other, auther, either, or, AS. [=a]w?er, contr. from [=a]hw[ae]?er; [=a] aye + hw[ae]?er 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.

Note: 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.

Note: 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\, prep. & adv. [AS. ?r ere, before. [root]204. See Ere, prep. & 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\, n. [F., fr. L. aurum gold. Cf. Aureate.] (Her.) Yellow or gold color, -- represented in drawing or engraving by small dots.

Language Translation for : or

Spanish: o,

German: oder,

Japanese: または

More Translations »

c.1200, from O.E. conj. oþþe "either, or," related to O.N. eða, O.H.G. odar, Ger. oder, Goth. aiþþau "or." This was extended in early M.E. with an -r ending, perhaps by analogy of other "choice between alternative" words that ended this way (either, whether), then reduced to oþþr, at first in unstressed situations (commonly thus in Northern and Midlands Eng. by 1300), and finally reduced to or, though other survived in this sense until 16c. The contraction took place in the second term of an alternative, such as either ... or, a common construction in O.E., where both words originally were oþþe (see nor).

Main Entry: OR
Function: abbreviation
operating room

OR logic
The Boolean function which is true if any of its arguments are true. Its truth table is:
A | B | A OR B --+---+--------- F | F | F F | T | T T | F | T T | T | T
(1996-11-04)

or
Oriya

open reduction
operating room
operations research
Oregon
owner's risk

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