option definition

English option definition

Etymology

From French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“I choose, select”). Equivalent to opt +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒpʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑpʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

option (plural options)

1. One of a set of choices that can be made. [from 19th c.]
   • 2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.

   • 2012 January, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist‎^[2], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 8 January 2012, page 74:

     Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

2. The freedom or right to choose.
3. (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. [from mid-18th c.]
4. (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.
   • 1928, Appeal to the Noble English Nation by the Committee of the Defenders of the Rights of Palestinian Arab Emigrants to the Palestinian Citizenship, page 10:

     At that time every emigrant who was made aware of such a notification submitted his application for option to the British Consuls within the period prescribed.

   • 1998, Venice Commission, Consequences of State Succession for Nationality, →ISBN, page 45:

     A right of option, mostly in favour of the nationality of the predecessor State, has been accorded in most cases of partial State succession, either by treaty or by domestic legislation.

   • 2012, Oliver W. Vonk, Dual Nationality in the European Union: A Study on Changing Norms […], →ISBN, page 243, note 154:

     This group constitutes around 9 percent of the total number of acquisitions of Dutch nationality through option.

Synonyms

• alternative
• choice
• possibility
• See also Thesaurus:option

Hypernyms

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): derivative

Hyponyms

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): American option, Bermudan option, European option, call option or call, put option or put, warrant

Derived terms

Related terms

• opt
• optimal
• optimise, optimize
• optimism
• optimist
• optimistic

Translations

Verb

option (third-person singular simple present options, present participle optioning, simple past and past participle optioned)

1. To purchase an option on something. [from 20th c.]

   The new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.

2. (computing, dated) To configure, by setting an option.
   • 1991, Martin D. Seyer, RS-232 made easy:

     The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing.

Further reading

• “option”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “option”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• potion

Finnish option definition

Noun

option

1. genitive singular of optio

Anagrams

• opinto, opinto-

French option definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin optiōnem (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“to choose, select”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

option f (plural options)

1. option

Further reading

• “option”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.