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Webster 1913 Edition

Offer

Of′fer

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Offered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Offering
.]
[OE.
offren
,
AS
.
offrian
to sacrifice, fr. L.
offerre
;
ob
(see
OB-
) +
ferre
to bear, bring. The English word was influenced by F.
offrir
to offer, of the same origin. See 1st
Bear
.]
1.
To present, as an act of worship; to immolate; to sacrifice; to present in prayer or devotion; – often with up.
Thou shalt
offer
every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement.
Ex. xxix. 36.
A holy priesthood to
offer
up spiritual sacrifices.
1 Pet. ii. 5.
2.
To bring to or before; to hold out to; to present for acceptance or rejection;
as, to
offer
a present, or a bribe; to
offer
one’s self in marriage.
I
offer
thee three things.
2 Sam. xxiv. 12.
3.
To present in words; to proffer; to make a proposal of; to suggest;
as, to
offer
an opinion
. With the infinitive as an objective: To make an offer; to declare one's willingness;
as, he
offered
to help me
.
4.
To attempt; to undertake.
All that
offer
to defend him.
Shakespeare
5.
To bid, as a price, reward, or wages;
as, to
offer
a guinea for a ring; to
offer
a salary or reward.
6.
To put in opposition to; to manifest in an offensive way; to threaten;
as, to
offer
violence, attack, etc.
Syn. – To propose; propound; move; proffer; tender; sacrifice; immolate.

Of′fer

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To present itself; to be at hand.
The occasion
offers
, and the youth complies.
Dryden.
2.
To make an attempt; to make an essay or a trial; – used with at.
“Without offering at any other remedy.”
Swift.
He would be
offering
at the shepherd's voice.
L'Estrange.
I will not
offer
at that I can not master.
Bacon.

Of′fer

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
offre
, fr.
offrir
to offer, fr. L.
offerre
. See
Offer
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
The act of offering, bringing forward, proposing, or bidding; a proffer; a first advance.
“This offer comes from mercy.”
Shak.
2.
That which is offered or brought forward; a proposal to be accepted or rejected; a sum offered; a bid.
When
offers
are disdained, and love denied.
Pope.
3.
Attempt; endeavor; essay;
as, he made an
offer
to catch the ball
.
“Some offer and attempt.”
South.

Webster 1828 Edition

Offer

OF'FER

,
Verb.
T.
[L. offero; ob and fero, to bring.]
1.
Literally, to bring to or before; hence, to present for acceptance or rejection; to exhibit something that may be taken or received or not. He offered me a sum of money. He offered me his umbrella to defend me from the rain.
The heathen women under the Mogul, offer themselves to the flames at the death of their husbands.
2.
To present in words; to proffer; to make a proposal to.
I offer thee three things. 2Sam. 24.
3.
To present, as an act of worship; to immolate; to sacrifice; often with up.
Thou shalt offer every day a bullock as a sin-offering for atonement. Ex. 29.
The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning.
A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
1Peter 2.
4.
To present in prayer or devotion.
Offer to God thanksgiving. Ps. 1.
5.
To bid, as a price, reward or wages; as, to offer ten eagles for a ring; to offer a hundred dollars a year for a laborer; to offer a salary.
6.
To present to the view or to the mind; as ideas which sense or reflection offers to the mind.
To offer violence, to assault; to attack or commence attack.

OF'FER

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To present itself; to be at hand.
Th' occasion offers and the youth complies.
2.
To present verbally; to declare a willingness. He offered to accompany his brother.
3.
To make an attempt.
We came close to the shore and offered to land.
Formerly with at.
I will not offer at that I cannot master. Obs.

OF'FER

,
Noun.
1.
A proposal to be accepted or rejected; presentation to choice. The prince made liberal offers, but they were rejected.
When offers are disdained, and love deny'd.
2.
First advance.
Force compels this offer.
3.
The act of bidding a price, or the sum bid. By an offer we manifest a desire to buy. When the seller declines accepting, he manifests that he thinks the offer not sufficient.
4.
Attempt; endeavor; essay.
It is the power of every one to make some essay, some offer and attempt. [Nearly obsolete.]

Definition 2024

offer

offer

English

Alternative forms

Noun

offer ‎(plural offers)

  1. A proposal that has been made.
    What's in his offer?‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
  2. Something put forth, bid, proffered or tendered.
    His offer was $3.50 per share.‎
  3. (law) An invitation to enter into a binding contract communicated to another party which contains terms sufficiently definite to create an enforceable contract if the other party accepts the invitation.
    His first letter was not a real offer, but an attempt to determine interest.‎
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English offren, offrien, from Old English offrian ‎(“to offer, sacrifice, bring an oblation”), from Latin offerō ‎(“to present, bestow, bring before”, literally “to bring to”), from Latin ob + ferō ‎(“bring, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-, *bʰrē- ‎(“to carry, bear”), later reinforced by Old French offrir ‎(“to offer”). Cognate with Old Frisian offria ‎(“to offer”), Old Dutch offrōn ‎(“to offer”), German opfern ‎(“to offer”), Old Norse offra ‎(“to offer”). More at ob-, bear. Displaced Old English ābēodan from ā- + bēodan ‎(“to command, decree, summon”).

Verb

offer ‎(third-person singular simple present offers, present participle offering, simple past and past participle offered)

  1. (transitive) To present (something) to God as a gesture of worship, or for a sacrifice.
    • Bible, Exodus xxix. 36
      Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement.
  2. (transitive) To place (something) in a position where it can be added to an existing mechanical assembly.
    • 2009, Roger Williams, Triumph Tr2, 3, 3a, 4 & 4a
      The next stage is to remove and replace the top part of the right side lip, and offer the lid to the car to ensure all the shapes and gaps are okay.
  3. (intransitive) To propose or express one's willingness (to do something).
    She offered to help with her homework.‎
  4. (transitive) To present in words; to proffer; to make a proposal of; to suggest.
    Everybody offered an opinion.‎
  5. (transitive) To place at someone’s disposal; to present (something) to be either accepted or turned down.
    He offered use of his car for the week.  He offered his good will for the Councilman's vote.‎
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterII:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
    • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
      Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
  6. (transitive) To bid, as a price, reward, or wages.
    I offered twenty dollars for it.  The company is offering a salary of £30,000 a year.‎
  7. (intransitive) To happen, to present itself.
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      The occasion offers, and the youth complies.
    • 1749, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Penguin 1985, p.64:
      The opportunity, however, did not offer till next morning, for Phoebe did not come to bed till long after I was gone to sleep.
  8. (obsolete) To make an attempt; used with at.
  9. (transitive) To put in opposition to; to manifest in an offensive way; to threaten.
    to offer violence to somebody‎
Usage notes
  • This is a catenative verb that takes the to-infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Translations

Etymology 3

off +‎ -er

Noun

offer ‎(plural offers)

  1. (used in combinations from phrasal verbs) agent noun of off
    • 2003, James-Jason Gantt, Losing Summer, ISBN t0595297498 9780595297498, page 146:
      Once you finally discover yourself a dismember-er, a de-limber, a **** head-cutter-offer, the most simple of tasks — enjoying a long walk outside, seeing a movie, conversing with a stranger in the library — all become prized and over-inflated moments of elation.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: instance · sake · justice · #908: offer · promise · obliged · ourselves

Anagrams

Danish

Noun

offer n (singular definite ofret or offeret, plural indefinite ofre)

  1. sacrifice
  2. victim

Derived terms

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɔfər/

Noun

offer n ‎(plural offers, diminutive offertje n)

  1. sacrifice
  2. victim

Derived terms

Verb

offer

  1. first-person singular present indicative of offeren
  2. imperative of offeren

Latin

Verb

offer

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of offerō

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse offr

Noun

offer n ‎(definite singular offeret, indefinite plural offer or ofre, definite plural ofra or ofrene)

  1. a sacrifice
  2. a victim, a casualty

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse offr.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔfɛr/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

offer n ‎(definite singular offeret, indefinite plural offer, definite plural offera)

  1. a sacrifice
  2. a victim, a casualty
    Offera var alle drepne på same måten.
    The victims were all killed in the same manner.

References

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse offr.

Pronunciation

Noun

offer n

  1. sacrifice
  2. victim

Declension

Inflection of offer 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative offer offret offer offren
Genitive offers offrets offers offrens

Etymology

From Middle English offer, from Old English offrian ‎(“make a sacrifice”) rather than from Old French offre ‎(“offer”), from offrir ‎(“to offer”), from Latin offerō ‎(“to present, bring before”). Compare North Frisian offer ‎(“sacrifice, donation, fee”), Dutch offer ‎(“offering, sacrifice”), German Opfer ‎(“victim, sacrifice”), Danish offer ‎(“victim, sacrifice”), Icelandic offr ‎(“offering”). See verb below.

Pronunciation

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