opinion

[ uh-pin-yuhn ]
See synonyms for: opinionopinions on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.

  2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

  1. the formal expression of a professional judgment: to ask for a second medical opinion.

  2. Law. the formal statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case.

  3. a judgment or estimate of a person or thing with respect to character, merit, etc.: to forfeit someone's good opinion.

  4. Archaic. a favorable estimate; esteem: I haven't much of an opinion of him.

Origin of opinion

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin opīniōn- (stem of opīniō ), derivative of opīnārī “to think, deem”

synonym study For opinion

1. Opinion, sentiment, view are terms for one's conclusion about something. An opinion is a belief or judgment that falls short of absolute conviction, certainty, or positive knowledge; it is a conclusion that certain facts, ideas, etc., are probably true or likely to prove so: political opinions; an opinion about art; In my opinion this is true. Sentiment (usually pl. ) refers to a rather fixed conviction, usually based on feeling or emotion rather than reasoning: These are my sentiments. View is an estimate of something, an intellectual judgment, a critical survey based on a mental examination, particularly of a public matter: views on governmental planning.

word story For opinion

English opinion comes from Middle English opinion, openyoun, from Anglo-French opinion, oppinion “view, belief,” later “reputation” and “intention, judgment.”
The French comes from Latin opīniō (inflectional stem opīniōn- ), which has all of the French senses, vague as they are (in that they refer to belief as opposed to fact or truth). Opīniō is a derivative of the verb opīnārī “to suppose, imagine, conjecture.”
The English noun ranges in meaning from a personal belief resting on grounds incapable of proof, to the formal statement of a court or judge of the reasoning and principles of law used in reaching a decision, to the expert opinion of a physician or other professional, as well as continuing the vague meanings of French and Latin.
The terms opinion poll and opinion polling date from about 1940, although poll in the sense “a survey of public opinion on an issue” appeared around the turn of the 20th century.

Other words for opinion

Other words from opinion

  • pre·o·pin·ion, noun
  • un·der·o·pin·ion, noun

Words that may be confused with opinion

Words Nearby opinion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use opinion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for opinion

opinion

/ (əˈpɪnjən) /

noun

  1. judgment or belief not founded on certainty or proof

  2. the prevailing or popular feeling or view: public opinion

  1. evaluation, impression, or estimation of the value or worth of a person or thing

  2. an evaluation or judgment given by an expert: a medical opinion

  3. the advice given by a barrister or counsel on a case submitted to him or her for a view on the legal points involved

  4. a matter of opinion a point open to question

  5. be of the opinion that to believe that

Origin of opinion

1
C13: via Old French from Latin opīniō belief, from opīnārī to think; see opine

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with opinion

opinion

see form an opinion; matter of opinion.

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

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