open

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ō'pən, IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.pən/
• (US) enPR: ō'pən, IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.pən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊpən

From Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”). Cognate with Scots apen (“open”), Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”), West Frisian iepen (“open”), Dutch open (“open”), Low German open, apen (“open”), German offen (“open”), Danish åben (“open”), Swedish öppen (“open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”), Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”), Icelandic opinn (“open”). Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.

open (comparative more open, superlative most open)

1. (not comparable) Not closed; accessible; unimpeded.
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Chapter 2

     The open road, the dusty highway […]

   • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

   Turn left after the second open door.

   It was as if his body had gone to sleep standing up and with his eyes open.

2. Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded.

   an open hand; an open flower; an open prospect

   • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden

     Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.

3. (not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.

   Banks are not open on bank holidays.

4. (comparable) Receptive.

   I am open to new ideas.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Acts xix. 33

     If Demetrius […] have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     The service that I truly did his life, / Hath left me open to all injuries.

5. (not comparable) Public

   He published an open letter to the governor on a full page of the New York Times.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     His thefts are too open.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     That I may find him, and with secret gaze / Or open admiration him behold.

6. (not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.

   The man is an open book.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope

     with aspect open, shall erect his head

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     The Moor is of a free and open nature.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Addison

     The French are always open, familiar, and talkative.

7. (mathematics, logic, of a formula) Having a free variable.
8. (mathematics, topology, of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of ${\displaystyle X}$ , that defines a topological space on ${\displaystyle X}$ .
9. (graph theory, of a walk) Whose first and last vertices are different.
10. (computing, not comparable, of a file, document, etc.) In current use; mapped to part of memory.

    I couldn't save my changes because another user had the same file open.

11. (business) Not fulfilled.

    I've got open orders for as many containers of red durum as you can get me.

12. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.

    an open question

    to keep an offer or opportunity open

    your account will remain open until we receive final settlement.

13. (music, stringed instruments) Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.
14. (music, wind instruments) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.
15. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.

    an open winter

16. (law) (Of correspondence) Written or sent with the intention that it may made public or referred to at any trial, rather than by way of confidential private negotiation for a settlement. (Opposite of "without prejudice")

    You will observe that this is an open letter and we reserve the right to mention it to the judge should the matter come to trial.

17. (phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
18. (phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
19. (phonetics, of a syllable) That ends in a vowel; not having a coda.
20. (computing) Made public, usable with a free licence.
21. (medicine) Resulting from an incision, puncture or any other process by which the skin no longer protects an internal part of the body.

• (not closed): accessible, unimpeded
• (ending in a vowel): free

• (accessible): closed, shut
• (ending in a vowel): closed, checked

From Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.

open (third-person singular simple present opens, present participle opening, simple past and past participle opened)

1. (transitive) To make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎:

     ‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’

   Turn the doorknob to open the door.

2. (transitive) To make (an open space, etc.) by clearing away an obstacle or obstacles, in order to allow for passage, access, or visibility.

   He opened a path through the undergrowth.

3. (transitive) To bring up, broach.

   I don't want to open that subject.

4. (transitive) To enter upon, begin.

   to open a discussion

   to open fire upon an enemy

   to open trade, or correspondence

   to open a case in court, or a meeting

5. (transitive) To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.

   to open a closed fist

   to open matted cotton by separating the fibres

   to open a map, book, or scroll

6. (transitive) To make accessible to customers or clients.

   I will open the shop an hour early tomorrow.

7. (transitive) To start (a campaign).

   Vermont will open elk hunting season next week.

8. (intransitive) To become open.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

   The door opened all by itself.

9. (intransitive) To begin conducting business.

   The shop opens at 9:00.

10. (intransitive, cricket) To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
11. (intransitive, poker) To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.

    After the first two players fold, Julie opens for $5.

12. (transitive, intransitive, poker) To reveal one's hand.

    Jeff opens his hand revealing a straight flush.

13. (computing, transitive, intransitive, of a file, document, etc.) To load into memory for viewing or editing.
14. (obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon

      The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.

    • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Jer. xx. 12

      Unto thee have I opened my cause.

• (to make accessible): crack (open a bit)

• (to make accessible): close, shut

From Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb (see Etymology 2 above).

open (plural opens)

1. A sports event in which anybody can compete; as, the Australian Open.
2. (electronics) A wire that is broken midway.

   The electrician found the open in the circuit after a few minutes of testing.

3. (with the) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.

   I can't believe you left the lawnmower out in the open when you knew it was going to rain this afternoon!

   Wary of hunters, the fleeing deer kept well out of the open, dodging instead from thicket to thicket.

4. (with the) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.

   We have got to bring this company's corrupt business practices into the open.

• Nope, nope, peno-, peon, pone

From English open.

open m (plural open or òpens)

1. (sports) open

• IPA^(key): /ˈoː.pə(n)/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːpən

From Middle Dutch ōpen, from Old Dutch opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

open (comparative opener, superlative openst)

1. open, not closed

   Antonyms: gesloten, dicht, toe

2. open for business

   Antonyms: gesloten, dicht

3. open, receptive

   Antonym: gesloten

• openbaar
• openbaren
• openen
• opener
• opening
• openlijk

See the etymology of the main entry.

open

1. first-person singular present indicative of openen
2. imperative of openen

• nope

open

1. Genitive singular form of ope.

Borrowed from English open.

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.pɛn/

open m (plural opens)

1. open; open tournament

• “open” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Old Dutch opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

ōpen

1. open, not closed
2. open, accessible
3. freely accessible, public

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

• ōpenen

• Dutch: open
  • Afrikaans: open
• Limburgish: aop

• “open”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “open (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

• opyn, ope

From Old English open, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

open (comparative more open, superlative most open)

1. open
   • 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 9-11.

     And smale foweles maken melodye,

     That slepen al the nyght with open eye-

     (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);

     And many little birds make melody

     That sleep through all the night with open eye

     (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)

• open-ers
• openly

• English: open (obsolete ope)
• Scots: appen, apen

From Old Norse opinn, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Compare Danish åben, Icelandic opinn, Swedish öppen, Dutch open, Low German apen, open, German offen, West Frisian iepen, English open.

• IPA^(key): /²oːpɛn/

open (masculine and feminine open, neuter ope or opent, definite singular and plural opne, comparative opnare, indefinite superlative opnast, definite superlative opnaste)

1. open

   Kvifor er døra open?

   Why is the door open?

• opna, opne

• åpen (Bokmål)

• “open” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Originally a past participle of Proto-Germanic *ūpaną (“to lift up, open”). Akin to Old English ūp (“up”). Cognate with Old Frisian open, opin, epen (West Frisian iepen), Old Saxon opan, open (Low German apen, open), Dutch open, Old High German offan, ofan, ophan (German offen), Old Norse opinn (Danish åben, Norwegian open, Swedish öppen).

open

1. open

• openlīċ

• Middle English: open, opyn, ope
  • Scots: appen, apen
  • English: open

From English open.

• IPA^(key): /ˈopen/, [ˈopẽn]

open m (plural opens or open)

1. (sports) open