option
UK /ˈɒpʃən/ · US /ˈɑpʃən/ noun, verb
Forms options optioning optioned
- noun One of a set of choices that can be made.
- noun The freedom or right to choose.
- noun (finance, law) A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price; can apply to financial market transactions, or to ordinary transactions for tangible assets such as a residence or automobile.
- noun (law, uncountable) The acquiring or retention of a nationality through personal choice as a right, bypassing selective legal mechanisms for naturalization, especially in cases where a territory is transferred or passed on from one state to another.
- verb To purchase an option on something. “The new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.”
- verb (computing, dated) To configure, by setting an option.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“to choose, select”). Equivalent to opt + -ion.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an alternative.
- noun The exercise of the power of choice; choice.
Etymology [L. optio; akin to optare to choose, wish, optimus best, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. option.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “option”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details