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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.

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.

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or ² American  

[awr] / ɔr /

preposition

Chiefly Irish, Scot., and English.

1. before; ere.

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or ³ American  

[awr] / ɔr /

noun

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

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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.

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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.

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-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 ).

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-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 .

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O.R. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. owner's risk.

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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

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OR ² British  

abbreviation

1. operations research

2. Oregon

3. military other ranks

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-or ³ British  

suffix

1. indicating state, condition, or activity

   terror

   error

2. the US spelling of -our

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or ⁴ British  

/ ɔː /

conjunction

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

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preposition

1. before

-or ⁵ British  

suffix

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

   actor

   conductor

   generator

   sailor

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or ⁶ British  

/ ɔː /

adjective

1. (usually postpositive) heraldry of the metal gold

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

or OR -or O.R.

She believes that Leo's arrival "helps the neighborhood... whether it's for marketing or out of devotion."

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Al-Hussaini grew up on the campus of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, or BUET, where his father is a well-known engineering professor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

Asked which is more satisfying, a touchdown or an interception, she adamantly chose the latter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

The Chief Minister of Jersey, Senator Lyndon Farnham, said operating a drone close to an airport was "not a prank or a harmless hobby".

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

Different areas of the cortex let you recognize letters in a book or faces in a crowd, or know whether you are standing upright.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

French beauty giant L’Oreal OR 1.80%increase; up pointing triangle said it expects its bottom line to grow this year after sales beat expectations for the most recent quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Last Thursday's arrest follows that of a 23-year-old Thai citizen in July, also caught at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport, who was attempting to smuggle 418 parrot eggs.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

This happened in Minneapolis on opening night, this happened in Los Angeles, in Portland, OR, in Atlanta, in New York City, in Chicago.

From Salon ● May 28, 2026

“We built the OR room first. It was this new drama that was never gonna last — and now it’s one of the biggest dramas in the world. And it’s changed my life.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

OR some combination of all of the above.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Ms Worrall redirects patients who come into the emergency department, sending them to a pharmacy or the GP if it is the most appropriate place -or to other areas within the hospital.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023

"The West needs countries with which they can build supply chains that are not politically contentious and Latin America -or much of the region at least- has a historic closeness with the West," he said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2023

Is it something anyone else would want to play -or buy?

From Washington Times ● Jan. 20, 2017

Does the perfect goal exist outside of a match's context, or does the effect it has on the match -or season, or tournament - act as some sort of multiplication factor?

From BBC ● May 23, 2015

‘It might send down another snowfall-or -or close up the hole with you inside...’

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

A juror in the trial of A.I. author O.R.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2023

International check-in counters stand empty after several airlines stopped flying out of South Africa because of the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, at O.R.

From Reuters ● Dec. 6, 2021

“No one is going to the O.R. and interfere in that process,” Wolf said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2019

Afterward, Giulianotti and I went to a small room outside the O.R., where various physicians were typing into terminals.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 23, 2019

Well"—and Barstow stood off and laughed—"if I have to diagram things for you, the money interests behind the O.R.

From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921 by Edison Marshall

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