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  • or
    or
    conjunction
    (used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives).
  • OR
    OR
    noun
    a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when either or both operands are positive.
  • -or
    -or
    a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, directly or through Anglo-French, usually denoting a condition or property of things or persons (ardor; honor; horror; liquor; pallor; squalor; torpor; tremor ), sometimes corresponding to qualitative adjectives ending in -id4 (horrid; pallid; squalid; torpid ). A few other words that originally ended in different suffixes have been assimilated to this group (behavior; demeanor; glamour ).
  • O.R.
    O.R.
    abbreviation
    owner's risk.
Synonyms

or

1 American  
[awr, er] / ɔr, ər /

conjunction

  1. (used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives).

    books or magazines; to be or not to be.

  2. (used to connect alternative terms for the same thing).

    the Hawaiian, or Sandwich, Islands.

  3. (used in correlation).

    either … or; or … or; whether … or.

  4. (used to correct or rephrase what was previously said).

    His autobiography, or rather memoirs, will soon be ready for publication.

  5. otherwise; or else.

    Be here on time, or we'll leave without you.

  6. Logic. the connective used in disjunction.

or 2 American  
[awr] / ɔr /

preposition

Chiefly Irish, Scot., and English.

  1. before; ere.

or 3 American  
[awr] / ɔr /

noun

  1. the tincture, or metal, gold: represented either by gold or by yellow.

adjective

  1. of the tincture, or metal, gold.

    a lion or.
OR 4 American  
[awr] / ɔr /

noun

  1. a Boolean operator that returns a positive result when either or both operands are positive.

OR 5 American  

abbreviation

  1. Law. on (one's own) recognizance.

  2. operating room.

  3. operations research.

  4. Oregon (approved especially for use with zip code).

  5. owner's risk.

-or 6 American  

  1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, directly or through Anglo-French, usually denoting a condition or property of things or persons (ardor; honor; horror; liquor; pallor; squalor; torpor; tremor ), sometimes corresponding to qualitative adjectives ending in -id4 (horrid; pallid; squalid; torpid ). A few other words that originally ended in different suffixes have been assimilated to this group (behavior; demeanor; glamour ).

-or 7 American  

  1. a suffix forming animate or inanimate agent nouns, occurring originally in loanwords from Anglo-French (debtor; lessor; tailor; traitor ); it now functions in English as an orthographic variant of -er, usually joined to bases of Latin origin, in imitation of borrowed Latin words containing the suffix -tor (and its alternant-sor ). The association with Latinate vocabulary may impart a learned look to the resultant formations, which often denote machines or other less tangible entities which behave in an agentlike way: descriptor; plexor; projector; repressor; sensor; tractor .

O.R. 8 American  

abbreviation

  1. owner's risk.

or 1 British  
/ ə, ɔː /

conjunction

  1. used to join alternatives

    apples or pears

    apples or pears or cheese

    apples, pears, or cheese

  2. used to join rephrasings of the same thing

    to serve in the army, or rather to fight in the army

    twelve, or a dozen

  3. used to join two alternatives when the first is preceded by either or whether

    whether it rains or not we'll be there

    either yes or no

  4. a few

  5. See else

  6. a poetic word for either or whether as the first element in correlatives, with or also preceding the second alternative

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
OR 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. operations research

  2. Oregon

  3. military other ranks

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
-or 3 British  

suffix

  1. indicating state, condition, or activity

    terror

    error

  2. the US spelling of -our

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
or 4 British  
/ ɔː /

conjunction

  1. (subordinating; foll by ever or ere) before; when

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

preposition

  1. before

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
-or 5 British  

suffix

  1. a person or thing that does what is expressed by the verb

    actor

    conductor

    generator

    sailor
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
or 6 British  
/ ɔː /

adjective

  1. (usually postpositive) heraldry of the metal gold

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Spelling

While the -or spelling of the suffix -or1 is characteristic of American English, there are occasional exceptions, as in advertising copy, where spellings such as colour and favour seek to suggest the allure and exclusiveness of a product. The spelling glamour is somewhat more common than glamor —not actually an instance of -or1, but conformed to it orthographically in the course of the word's history. In British English -our is still the spelling in most widespread use, -or being commonly retained when certain suffixes are added, as in color ation, honor ary, honor ific, labor ious, odor iferous. The English of the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) tends to mirror British practice, whereas Canadian English shares with the U.S. a preference for -or but with -our spellings as freely used variants. The suffix -or2 is now spelled -or in all forms of English, with the exception of the word savior, often spelled saviour in the U.S. as well as in Britain, especially with reference to Jesus.

Usage

See and/or, either.

Etymology

Origin of or1

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English, originally the second, unstressed member of correlative other … or, earlier other … other, Old English āther … oththe, ā-hwæther … oththe, for oththe … oththe either … or; cf. ay 1, whether

Origin of or2

First recorded before 950; Middle English er, ar, or, Old English ār “before, soon, early”; cognate with Old Norse ār “early, anciently, of yore,” Gothic air “soon, early”; compare Old English ǣr “before, soon”; see ere

Origin of or3

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aurum “gold”

Origin of OR4

1940–45

Origin of -or6

From Latin; in some cases continuing Middle English -our, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin -ōr-, stem of -or, earlier -os

Origin of -or7

Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French -o ( u ) r < Latin -ōr-, stem of -or, extracted from -tōr -tor by construing the t as the ending of the past participle (hence Latin factor maker, equivalent to fac ( ere ) to make + -tor, was analyzed as fact ( us ), past participle of facere + -or ); merged with Anglo-French, Old French -ëo ( u ) r < Latin -ātōr- -ator; cf. -eur

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Burke’s lead defense attorney, Blair Berk, has not responded to the new filing or returned a request for comment.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

One thing is for certain: It’s highly unlikely that independent commissions will return to California, Virginia, Colorado or anywhere else anytime soon.

From Salon • May 1, 2026

It tells you nothing about what is being fought over or who is being harmed.

From Slate • May 1, 2026

The respective estimates place his wealth far beyond that of other current or former big tech bosses, including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

Her parents or moshom brought her meals and left them outside her door as if she were a prisoner, but she wasn’t.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.