option
Pluraloptions
Pluraloptions
Formsoptions, optioning, optioned
- 1One of the things you can choose from when you make a decision.
Like the different doors in a hallway: you can open only one, and each leads somewhere different.
Walking to school is an option if you miss the bus.
The menu lists three options for breakfast.
UsageHave no option but to do something means you must do it.
Similarchoice, alternative, possibility
- 2The freedom or the right to choose what to do.
You have the option to stay home if you feel sick.
The teacher gave us the option of taking the test next week.
UsageThe option to do something, or the option of doing it.
Oppositeobligation
- 3A deal that lets you buy or sell something later at a price agreed on now.
Like paying a small fee to hold a concert ticket so you can decide later whether to buy it.
He paid for an option on the house, so the owner can't sell it to anyone else this month.
Her option lets her buy the shares at last year's price.
UsageAn option on something, or an option to buy it.
Note
Less common meanings
- 4In baseball, to send a player to a lower team while the main team can still call him back.
The team decided to option the young pitcher to a minor-league club.
After a few bad games, he was optioned to the minors.
UsageUsually optioned to a lower team: he was optioned to the minors.
Similardemote
Oppositerecall
Note
- 5To pay for the right to buy or use something later.
Movie companies often option popular books before anyone writes a script.
A building company optioned the empty land last spring.
UsageMostly about books and films: a studio options a book.
- 6To set up a machine or program by choosing a setting.
The technician will option the modem to answer calls on its own.
The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing.
1991, Martin D. Seyer, RS-232 made easyHere, optioned means set up with the right setting chosen for this feature.Note
- 7Getting or keeping a country's citizenship by personal choice, especially when land passes from one country to another.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From French option, from Latin optiō meaning "choice," from optō "I choose."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- English option comes from French option, which comes from Latin optiō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin optiō means choice. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin optiō derives from optō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin optō means I choose. en.wiktionary.org