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Webster 1913 Edition


Or

Or

(ôr)
,
c
onj.
[OE.
or
,
outher
,
other
,
auther
, either, or, AS.
āwðer
, contr. from
āhwaeðer
;
aye +
hwaeðer
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.
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.
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

,
p
rep.
&
adv.
[AS.
[GREEK]r
ere, before. √204. See
Ere
,
p
rep.
&
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

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

Webster 1828 Edition


Or

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. Matt. 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.]

Definition 2024


ôr

ôr

Romansch

Alternative forms

  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) aur
  • (Sutsilvan, Puter, Vallader) or

Noun

ôr m

  1. (Surmiran) gold