Link Centre Dictionary

OR

UK/ɔː(ɹ)/ US/oɹ/ very common

noun

1.

a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific

2.

a room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations

  • “great care is taken to keep the operating rooms aseptic”

Origin

From Middle English or; partially contracted from other, auther, from Old English āþor, āwþer, āhwæþer ("some, any, either"; > either); and partially from Middle English oththe, from Old English oþþe, from Proto-Germanic *efþau (“or”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian of (“or”), Cimbrian odar, òdar (“or”), Dutch of, oft, ofte (“or”), German, Luxembourgish, and Vilamovian oder (“or”), Low German of, àder, àr, åder, år (“or”), Yiddish אָדער (oder, “or”), Icelandic eða, eður (“or”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌿 (aiþþau, “or; otherwise”).

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.