Adjacent Words

Or definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

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. Matthew 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.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific [syn: Oregon, Beaver State, OR]
2: a room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations; "great care is taken to keep the operating rooms aseptic" [syn: operating room, OR, operating theater, operating theatre, surgery]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: ¹or Date: circa 1956 a logical operator that requires either of two inputs to be present or conditions to be met for an output to be made or a statement to be executed <OR gate in a computer> II. abbreviation 1. operating room 2. operational research; operations research 3. Oregon 4. owner's risk 5. own recognizance

Merriam Webster's

I. conjunction Etymology: Middle English, alteration of other, alteration of Old English oththe; akin to Old High German eddo or Date: 13th century 1. — used as a function word to indicate an alternative <coffee or tea> <sink or swim>, the equivalent or substitutive character of two words or phrases <lessen or abate>, or approximation or uncertainty <in five or six days> 2. archaic either 3. archaic whether 4. — used in logic as a sentential connective that forms a complex sentence which is true when at least one of its constituent sentences is true; compare disjunction II. preposition Etymology: Middle English, from or, adverb, early, before, from Old Norse ?r; akin to Old English ?r early — more at ere Date: 13th century archaic before III. conjunction Date: 13th century archaic before IV. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, gold, from Latin aurum — more at aureus Date: 15th century the heraldic color gold or yellow

Oxford Reference Dictionary

abbr. 1 operational research. 2 US Oregon (in official postal use). 3 other ranks.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. conj. 1 a introducing the second of two alternatives (white or black). b introducing all but the first, or only the last, of any number of alternatives (white or grey or black; white, grey, or black). 2 (often prec. by either) introducing the only remaining possibility or choice given (take it or leave it; either come in or go out). 3 (prec. by whether) introducing the second part of an indirect question or conditional clause (ask him whether he was there or not; must go whether I like or dislike it). 4 introducing a synonym or explanation of a preceding word etc. (suffered from vertigo or giddiness). 5 introducing a significant afterthought (he must know - or is he bluffing?). 6 = or else (run or you'll be late). 7 poet. each of two; either (or in the heart or in the head). Phrases and idioms: not A or B not A, and also not B. one or two (or two or three etc.) colloq. a few. or else 1 otherwise (do it now, or else you will have to do it tomorrow). 2 colloq. expressing a warning or threat (hand over the money or else). or rather introducing a rephrasing or qualification of a preceding statement etc. (he was there, or rather I heard that he was). or so (after a quantity or a number) or thereabouts (send me ten or so). Etymology: reduced form of obs. other conj. (which superseded OE oththe or), of uncert. orig. 2. n. & adj. Heraldry --n. a gold or yellow colour. --adj. (usu. following noun) gold or yellow (a crescent or). Etymology: F f. L aurum gold

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Or 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Or 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use or to link two or more alternatives. 'Tea or coffee?' John asked... He said he would try to write or call as soon as he reached the Canary Islands... Students are asked to take another course in English, or science, or mathematics. CONJ 2. You use or to give another alternative, when the first alternative is introduced by 'either' or 'whether'. Items like bread, milk and meat were either unavailable or could be obtained only on the black market... Either you can talk to him, or I will... I don't know whether people will buy it or not... CONJ 3. You use or between two numbers to indicate that you are giving an approximate amount. Everyone benefited from limiting their intake of tea to just three or four cups a day... Normally he asked questions, and had a humorous remark or two. CONJ 4. You use or to introduce a comment which corrects or modifies what you have just said. The man was a fool, he thought, or at least incompetent... There was nothing more he wanted, or so he thought... CONJ 5. If you say that someone should do something or something unpleasant will happen, you are warning them that if they do not do it, the unpleasant thing will happen. She had to have the operation, or she would die. = otherwise CONJ 6. You use or to introduce something which is evidence for the truth of a statement you have just made. He must have thought Jane was worth it or he wouldn't have wasted time on her, I suppose. = otherwise CONJ 7. You use or no or or not to emphasize that a particular thing makes no difference to what is going to happen. Chairman or no, if I want to stop the project, I can... The first difficulty is that, old-fashioned or not, it is very good. PHRASE: group PHR [emphasis] 8. You use or no between two occurrences of the same noun in order to say that whether something is true or not makes no difference to a situation. The next day, rain or no rain, it was business as usual... PHRASE: n PHR n 9. or else: see else or other: see other or so: see so or something: see something

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

or: The word is used once for either (1Sa 26:10), and is still in poetic use in this sense; as in, "Without or wave or wind" (Coleridge); "Or the bakke or some bone he breketh in his dzouthe" (Piers Plowman (B), VII, 93; compare Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 65). It is also used with "ever" for before (Ps 90:2; Ecclesiasticus 18:19), which the American Standard Revised Version substitutes in Ec 12:6 (compare 12:1,2); So 6:12; Da 6:24.

Dictionary of Ro

without

Moby Thesaurus

achievement, alerion, and/or, animal charge, annulet, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, aureate, aureateness, auric, azure, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, beige, bend, bend sinister, billet, blazon, blazonry, bordure, broad arrow, buff, buff-yellow, cadency mark, canary, canary-yellow, canton, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, citron, citron-yellow, coat of arms, cockatrice, coronet, cream, creamy, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, device, difference, differencing, eagle, ecru, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, falcon, fallow, fallowness, fess, fess point, field, file, flanch, flaxen, fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, gilded, gilt, gold, gold-colored, golden, griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, honor point, impalement, impaling, inescutcheon, label, lemon, lemon-yellow, lion, lozenge, luteolous, lutescent, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, metal, motto, mullet, nombril point, ocherish, ocherous, ochery, ochreous, ochroid, ochrous, ochry, octofoil, ordinary, orle, pale, paly, pean, pheon, primrose, primrose-colored, primrose-yellow, purpure, quarter, quartering, rose, sable, saffron, saffron-colored, saffron-yellow, sallow, saltire, sand-colored, sandy, scutcheon, shield, spread eagle, straw, straw-colored, subordinary, tenne, tincture, torse, tressure, unicorn, vair, vert, wreath, xanthic, xanthous, yale, yellow, yellowish, yellowishness, yellowness