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or

Pronunciation: /ə(ɹ)/

The English word “or” has 11 meanings listed here.

conjunction

  1. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
  2. An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms: the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
  3. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
  4. Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).
  5. Connects two equivalent names.
  6. Used in between two numbers to denote a range between them.

noun

  1. The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.

adjective

  1. Of gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.

adverb

  1. Early (on).
  2. Earlier, previously.

preposition

  1. Before; ere. Generally followed by “ever” or “e'er”.

Etymology

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.