option
pronunciation
How to pronounce option in British English:
UK [ˈɒpʃn]
How to pronounce option in American English:
US [ˈɑːpʃn]
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- Noun:
- the right to buy or sell property at an agreed price; the right is purchased and if it is not exercised by a stated date the money is forfeited
- one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen
- the act of choosing or selecting
Word Origin
- option
- option: see opinion
- option (n.)
- c. 1600, "action of choosing," from French option (Old French opcion), from Latin optionem (nominative optio) "choice, free choice, liberty to choose," from root of optare "to desire, choose," from PIE root *op- (2) "to choose, prefer." Meaning "thing that may be chosen" is attested from 1885. Commercial transaction sense first recorded 1755 (the verb in this sense is from 1934). As a North American football play, it is recorded from 1954.
Example
- 1. It has little other option .
- 2. Smaller markets lack that option .
- 3. Inaction is not an option .
- 4. Direct intervention is one option .
- 5. Why rule out the option ?