open

pronunciation

How to pronounce open in British English: UK [ˈəʊpən]word uk audio image

How to pronounce open in American English: US [ˈoʊpən] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
    where the air is unconfined
    a tournament in which both professionals and amateurs may play
    information that has become public
  • Verb:
    cause to open or to become open
    start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning
    become open
    begin or set in action, of meetings, speeches, recitals, etc.
    spread out or open from a closed or folded state
    make available
    become available
    have an opening or passage or outlet
    make the opening move
    afford access to
    display the contents of a file or start an application as on a computer
  • Adjective:
    affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed
    affording free passage or access
    with no protection or shield
    open to or in view of all
    used of mouth or eyes
    not having been filled
    accessible to all
    not defended or capable of being defended
    (of textures) full of small openings or gaps
    having no protecting cover or enclosure
    opened out
    of a set; containing points whose neighborhood consists of other points of the same set, or being the complement of an open set; of an interval; containing neither of its end points
    not brought to a conclusion; subject to further thought
    not sealed or having been unsealed
    without undue constriction as from e.g. tenseness or inhibition
    relatively empty of and unobstructed by fences or hedges or headlands or shoals
    open and observable; not secret or hidden
    used of string or hole or pipe of instruments
    not requiring union membership
    possibly accepting or permitting
    not secret
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    affording free passage or view
    lax in enforcing laws
    openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness
    sincere and free of reserve in expression
    receptive to new ideas
    ready for business

Word Origin

open
open: [OE] Etymologically, open means ‘turned up’ or ‘put up’. It comes ultimately from a prehistoric Germanic *upanaz, an adjective based on the ancestor of up, and therefore presumably denoted originally the raising of a lid or cover. The German verb aufmachen ‘open’, literally ‘make up’, contains the adverb auf, the German equivalent to English up. The English verb open [OE] is a derivative of the adjective.=> up
open (adj.)
Old English open "not closed down, raised up" (of gates, eyelids, etc.), also "exposed, evident, well-known, public," often in a bad sense, "notorious, shameless;" from Proto-Germanic *upana, literally "put or set up" (cognates: Old Norse opinn, Swedish öppen, Danish aaben, Old Saxon opan, Old Frisian epen, Old High German offan, German offen "open"), from PIE *upo "up from under, over" (cognates: Latin sub, Greek hypo; see sub-). Related to up, and throughout Germanic the word has the appearance of a past participle of *up (v.), but no such verb has been found. The source of words for "open" in many Indo-European languages seems to be an opposite of the word for "closed, shut" (such as Gothic uslukan). Of physical spaces, "unobstructed, unencumbered," c. 1200; of rooms with unclosed entrances, c. 1300; of wounds, late 14c. Transferred sense of "frank, candid" is attested from early 14c. Of shops, etc., "available for business," it dates from 1824. Open door in reference to international trading policies is attested from 1856. Open season is first recorded 1896, of game; and figuratively 1914 of persons. Open book in the figurative sense of "person easy to understand" is from 1853. Open house "hospitality for all visitors" is first recorded 1824. Open-and-shut "simple, straightforward" first recorded 1841 in New Orleans. Open marriage, one in which the partners sleep with whomever they please, is from 1972. Open road (1817, American English) originally meant a public one; romanticized sense of "traveling as an expression of personal freedom" first recorded 1856, in Whitman.
open (n.)
early 13c., "an aperture or opening," from open (adj.). Meaning "public knowledge" (especially in out in the open) is from 1942, but compare Middle English in open (late 14c.) "manifestly, publicly." The sense of "an open competition" is from 1926, originally in a golf context.
open (v.)
Old English openian "to open, open up, disclose, reveal," also intransitive, "become manifest, be open to or exposed to," from Proto-Germanic *opanojan (cognates: Old Saxon opanon, Old Norse opna "to open," Middle Dutch, Dutch openen, Old High German offanon, German öffnen), from the source of open (adj.), but etymology suggests the adjective is older. Open up "cease to be secretive" is from 1921. Related: Opened; opening.

Synonym

Antonym

vt.

shut close

Example

1. Do not open your books .
2. The open society needs defenders .
3. Huge contracts are open to corruption .
4. Apple is becoming an open shop .
5. It should remain committed to preserving an open world economy .

more: >How to Use "open" with Example Sentences