option

From French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“I choose, select”). Equivalent to opt +‎ -ion.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒpʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑpʃən/

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option (plural options)

1. One of a set of choices that can be made. [from the 19th c.]
   • 2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.

   • 2012 January 1, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, page 74:

     Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

2. The freedom or right to choose.
3. (finance, law) A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price; can apply to financial market transactions, or to ordinary transactions for tangible assets such as a residence or automobile. [from the mid-18th c.]

• alternative
• choice
• possibility
• See also Thesaurus:option

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): derivative

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): American option, Bermudan option, European option, call option or call, put option or put, warrant

• optionable
• optional
• stock option

• opt
• optimal
• optimise, optimize
• optimism
• optimist
• optimistic

option (third-person singular simple present options, present participle optioning, simple past and past participle optioned)

1. To purchase an option on something. [from the 20th c]

   The new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.

2. (computing, dated) To configure, by setting an option.
   • 1991, Martin D. Seyer, RS-232 made easy

     The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing.

• option in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• option in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• potion

option

1. Genitive singular form of optio.

• opinto-

From Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“I choose, select”).

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option f (plural options)

1. option

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