# option

Pronunciation: say "OP-shuhn" US /ˈɑpʃən/, UK /ˈɒpʃən/

## Noun

1. One of a set of choices that can be made in a given situation.
   - Simple: One of the things you can choose from when you make a decision.
   - _Renting remains a realistic option for families priced out of the housing market._
   - _The committee weighed several options before settling on a hybrid schedule._
2. The power or privilege to make a choice of one's own.
   - Simple: The freedom or the right to choose what to do.
   - _Employees have the option of working remotely two days a week._
   - _Voters retained the option of recalling the governor before the term ended._
3. A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price, whether in financial markets or in everyday transactions such as a home purchase.
   - Simple: A deal that lets you buy or sell something later at a price agreed on now.
   - _The investor's options expired worthless when the stock never reached the strike price._
   - _She negotiated an option to buy the apartment at a fixed price within six months._

## Verb

4. In baseball, to assign a player to a minor-league team while the major-league club keeps the right to bring him back.
   - Simple: In baseball, to send a player to a lower team while the main team can still call him back.
   - _The club plans to option the rookie outfielder to Triple-A before Opening Day._
   - _After two rough starts, the front office optioned him to the minors to work on his control._
5. To acquire, for a fee, an option on something, securing the right to buy or use it later on agreed terms.
   - Simple: To pay for the right to buy or use something later.
   - _The producer optioned her memoir within weeks of its release._
   - _A buyer can option farmland for a small fee while arranging financing._

## Verb

6. To configure a device or program by setting an option. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To set up a machine or program by choosing a setting.
   - _Factory workers optioned each unit for the regional power standard before packing it._
   - _Engineers could option the controller for metric or imperial units._

## Other meanings

- (noun) The acquiring or keeping of a nationality by personal choice, as a right rather than through naturalization procedures, especially when territory passes from one state to another.

## Origin

Latin optiō ("choice; option; act of choosing"), built on optō ("I choose, select"), came into English through French option. In English terms it amounts to opt with the suffix -ion.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/option (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).