or

conjunction · OR noun · OR proper noun · adjective · noun · preposition · adverb

OR/oɹ/AW/ɔː(ɹ)/

As a proper nounoh-AHR

19 meanings of or

Practice

1
choicesconjunction
Used to link two or more alternative words, phrases, or clauses, any one of which would make the statement true.
You can pay by card or in cash at the front desk.
The delay could be caused by snow, a staff shortage, or a broken signal.
UsageAfter a negative, or is usual: no milk or sugar, I don't eat meat or fish. Either ... or stresses the choice.
2
also calledconjunction
Used to join two names that refer to the same thing.
We flew into Mumbai, or Bombay, as my grandfather still calls it.
The herb is sold as cilantro, or coriander, depending on where you shop.
Note
Here nothing is being chosen: both names point to the same thing, and the second usually sits between commas as an aside, as in Myanmar, or Burma.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Myanmar and Burma name the same country. geonames.nga.mil
3
correctionconjunction
Used to introduce a correction of what has just been said, or a more accurate way of putting it.
The report was written by the CEO, or at least that's whose name is on it.
She's my cousin, or my second cousin, to be exact.
UsageUsually with a helper: or rather, or at least, or more exactly.
Note
A speaker catching their own words in mid-sentence, usually with a helper close by: or rather, or at least, or more precisely, to be exact.

Less common meanings

4
otherwiseconjunction
Used to introduce the consequence if the preceding statement is not true or is not acted on.
Book your tickets this week, or they'll be gone.
He must have left already, or his car would still be in the driveway.
UsageOften an order, then or + a warning with will: hurry, or you'll be late. Stronger: or else.
5
USoh-AHR/ˌoʊˈɑɹ/UKoh-AH/ˌəʊˈɑː/
operating roomnoun · ORcountableinitialism
Short for operating room: a room in a hospital equipped for performing surgery.
The surgeon was called back to the OR just after midnight.
She spent eight years as an OR nurse before moving into hospital administration.
6
Oregonproper noun · ORabbreviation
Short for Oregon: a state in the northwestern United States, used especially in mailing addresses.
Mail your application to 400 Commercial Street, Salem, OR 97301.
Our order shipped from a warehouse in Portland, OR, and arrived two days later.
UsageUsed in addresses after the city: Portland, OR 97201. In sentences, write Oregon.
7
logicconjunction
In logic and computing, the operator or keyword that gives true when at least one of its inputs is true.
If either premise holds, then p or q holds as well.
In Python, the condition x > 0 or y > 0 passes when either number is positive.
Note
Logic has to settle what ordinary speech leaves open: whether p or q is still true when both hold. On the inclusive reading it is; on the exclusive reading it is not. A menu's soup or salad usually offers one, not both, which is why a writer who needs precision adds or both, or but not both.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Inclusive disjunction permits both propositions to be true. forallx.openlogicproject.org
Exclusive disjunction is false when both propositions are true. student.cs.uwaterloo.ca
8
noun · OR
A logic gate that carries out an inclusive or, giving a true output when at least one input is true.
The alarm feeds both door sensors into an OR gate, so opening either door sets it off.
On the schematic, the output of the OR drives a small warning light.
Note
Engineers count it among the basic gates, with AND and NOT, from which digital circuits are built. An inverter on its output makes a NOR gate. It is easy to confuse with XOR: an OR gate stays on when both inputs are on, while the exclusive gate turns off.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
OR is a basic logic gate, alongside AND and NOT, used to build digital circuits. physicslabs.colorado.edu
AND, OR and NOT gates together can implement any Boolean function. cs.cornell.edu
Adding an inverter to an OR gate's output produces the NOR function. cs.cornell.edu
When both inputs are on, a two-input OR gate outputs on, whereas a two-input XOR gate outputs off. cs.cornell.edu
9
USoh-AHR/ˌoʊˈɑɹ/UKoh-AH/ˌəʊˈɑː/
Olympic recordnoun · ORcountableinitialism
Short for Olympic Record: the best performance ever achieved in an event at the Olympic Games.
The Kenyan runner broke the OR by nearly two seconds but missed the world record.
Two swimmers went under the old OR in the same heat.
Note
In results tables the letters sit beside the time or mark that set the record, much as WR flags a world record. In sports reporting they also work as an ordinary countable noun: athletes set, break or narrowly miss an OR, and an OR can fall without the world record falling with it.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
OR denotes an Olympic record, and WR denotes a world record. odf.olympictech.org
An Olympic record can be broken without the world record being broken. olympedia.org
10
gold (arms)adjective
Of the gold or yellow tincture, used to describe part of a coat of arms.
The family's arms show a blue field crossed by a bend or.
The herald described the crown as or, the stars as argent, and the field as azure.
Similargold, golden
Note
Blazon puts this adjective after its noun: a bend or, a lion or, never an or lion. It can also follow a linking verb, as in the field is or, and like the other tincture words it takes no comparative, because a charge either is gold or is not.
11
gold (arms)nouncountable or uncountable
In heraldry, the gold or yellow tincture used on a coat of arms.
In heraldry, or is one of the two metals, and painters often show it as plain yellow.
In black-and-white engravings, or is shown by a pattern of fine dots, while argent is left plain.
Similargold
Note
Heralds class it as a metal, one of only two, the other being argent, for silver; Arthur Charles Fox-Davies sets out the pair in A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909). Writers often capitalize it or put it in quotation marks to keep it apart from the everyday conjunction. It came into English through French from Latin aurum, "gold".
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Or and argent are the two heraldic metals, representing gold and silver; Fox-Davies lists them together. gutenberg.org
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies wrote A Complete Guide to Heraldry, first published in 1909. gutenberg.org
The English heraldic term came through French from Latin aurum, meaning gold. en.wiktionary.org
12
prepositionarchaic
Used to mean before in time, usually followed by ever or e'er.
I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust.
1834, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
And Time went forth into the worlds to obey the commands of the gods, yet he cast furtive glances at his masters, and the gods distrusted Time because he had known the worlds or ever the gods became.
1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods
Note
The phrase or ever is easy to misread: in the King James Bible of 1611, "or ever the silver cord be loosed" means "before the silver cord is loosed", not a second choice. Coleridge's Ancient Mariner and Lord Dunsany's Time and the Gods (1906) use it the same way, before a whole clause; outside dialect, a modern writer says before.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
The King James Bible contains 'or ever the silver cord be loosed'. kingjamesbibleonline.org
In that passage, 'or ever' means 'before', rather than introducing an alternative. en.wiktionary.org
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Ancient Mariner uses 'or ever' meaning 'before', followed by a whole clause. gutenberg.org
Lord Dunsany wrote Time and the Gods, first published in 1906. historical.ha.com
Time and the Gods uses 'or ever' meaning 'before', followed by a whole clause. gutenberg.org
13
USoh-AHR/ˌoʊˈɑɹ/UKoh-AH/ˌəʊˈɑː/
receiptnoun · ORPhilippinescountableinitialism
Short for official receipt: a receipt a business issues as proof of payment, often asked for when claiming reimbursement.
The clinic issued an OR for the 800-peso consultation fee.
Accounting won't reimburse your taxi fare without an OR.
Note
This is Philippine business usage, and readers elsewhere may not recognize it. There it names an everyday countable thing: customers ask for an OR, and a business issues one when it is paid. Official marks it as the authorized receipt, not just any slip showing that money changed hands.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
OR stands for official receipt in Philippine business terminology. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph
Customers can request an OR, and businesses issue it as proof of payment. meralco.com.ph
An official receipt is a formally authorized business document, rather than any informal acknowledgment of payment. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph
14
adverbobsolete
At an earlier time or stage; early on or previously.
Note
The adverb has its own ancestry, separate from the conjunction's: late Old English ār, from Old Norse ár, a close relative of ere. It placed something near the start of a stretch of time, and it could also mean earlier, before some other moment. A modern writer would say early or early on.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
The adverb has a separate ancestry from the conjunction, through late Old English ār and Old Norse ár. en.wiktionary.org
The adverb is etymologically related to ere. en.wiktionary.org
The adverb meant early or early on. en.wiktionary.org
The adverb also meant earlier or previously. en.wiktionary.org
15
noun
Short for operations research: the use of mathematical methods such as modeling and optimization to help organizations plan and make better decisions.
16
noun
Short for other ranks: in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, the members who are not commissioned officers, or one such member.
17
noun
Short for original research: on Wikipedia, facts, analysis or conclusions that no reliable published source supports, which editors may not add.
18
noun
Short for odorant receptor: a receptor protein on a smell-sensing nerve cell that detects particular odor molecules and signals the brain.
19
proper noun
Short for Orissa: the former name of Odisha, a state in eastern India.

More uses

or soabout, or a little more or less, as in ten minutes or so

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of or apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–4, 7

Middle English or has two sources. Part of it is a shortened form of other, auther, which go back to Old English āþor, āwþer ("some, any, either"). The rest comes from oththe, a Middle English word descended from Old English oþþe, and that goes back to Proto-Germanic *efþau ("or").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Middle English or has two sources. en.wiktionary.org
Or is partly a shortened form of Middle English other, auther. en.wiktionary.org
These forms go back to Old English āþor, āwþer, meaning some, any, either. en.wiktionary.org
The other source is Middle English oththe, descended from Old English oþþe. en.wiktionary.org
Old English oþþe goes back to Proto-Germanic *efþau, meaning or. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 10–11

Latin aurum ("gold") became Old French or, which developed into Middle French or ("yellow"). English borrowed this as or ("gold") in late Middle English.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Latin aurum meant "gold" and developed into Old French or. en.wiktionary.org
Old French or developed into Middle French or, meaning "yellow". en.wiktionary.org
English borrowed or, meaning "gold", from Middle French in late Middle English. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 12, 14

From late Old English ār, from Old Norse ár; compare ere.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Or derives from late Old English ār, which derives from Old Norse ár. en.wiktionary.org
Ere is an etymologically relevant comparison. en.wiktionary.org