"O" Word Origins

opportunist

French

From French opportuniste, built from opportune plus the "-ist" suffix.

opportunistic

Origin

From opportunist plus the adjective suffix "-ic."

opportunity

Latin

From Latin opportunitas, related to opportunus — the same root as "opportune."

opposable

Origin

From oppose plus the suffix "-able."

oppose

Latin

From Old French opposer, ultimately shaped by Latin ob- ("against") plus ponere ("to put"), replacing the earlier Latin verb opponere.

opposer

Origin

From oppose + -er.

opposite

Latin

From Old French oposite, from Latin oppositus, the past participle of opponere, "to set against" — related to "oppose."

oppositeness

Origin

From opposite + -ness.

opposition

Late Latin

From Old French oposicion, from Late Latin oppositio, ultimately from Latin oppono, "to set against" — the same family as "oppose" and "opposite."

oppress

Medieval Latin

From Old French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressare, based on Latin opprimere, "to press against" — from ob- ("against") plus premere ("to press").

oppression

Latin

From Old French oppression, from Latin oppressio ("a pressing down"), from the verb opprimere — "to press against, crush."

oppressive

Latin

Built from oppress plus the adjective ending -ive, ultimately from Latin opprimere, "to press down or crush."

oppressor

Latin

From Old French oppressor and Latin oppressor, the "one who presses down" — from the same root as oppress.

opprobrium

Origin

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin opprobrium, obprobrium (“a reproach, a taunt; disgrace, shame; dishonour; scandal”, noun), from opprobrō, obprobrō (“to reproach, upbraid; to taunt”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Opprobrō, obprobrō are derived from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + probrum (“disgrace, shame; abuse, insult”, noun) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward; toward”) + *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”), in the sense of something brought up to reproach a person). The plural form opprobria is borrowed from Latin opprobria. Cognates * French opprobre * Italian obbrobrio * Portuguese ouprobio (obsolete), opróbrio * Spanish oprobrio (obsolete), oprobio

oppugnant

Origin

From Latin oppugnans, present participle of oppugno.

Oprah

Origin

From the name Oprah Winfrey — itself a rearranged form of the biblical name Orpah.

ops

Latin

Learned borrowing from Latin Ops, from Latin ops (“resources, wealth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-(i)-, *h₃op-(i)- (“force, ability”), from *h₃ep- base

opt

Latin · 1850

Borrowed in the 1850s from French opter, from Latin optare, "to choose or wish for."

opt out

Latin

From opt, via French opter from Latin optare 'to choose', plus the particle out.

optic

Greek

From Greek optikos, "of or for sight," from optos, "visible."

optical

Origin

Formed from optic plus the adjective ending -al.

optics

Ancient Greek

From Medieval Latin opticus (“optic, optical”), from Ancient Greek ὀπτικός (optikós), equivalent to optic + -ics.

optimal

Latin

From Latin optimus, "best," the superlative of bonus, "good."

optime

Origin

Borrowed from Latin optimē (“very well”), in the phrase optimē disputāstī (“you have disputed very well”), formerly used in reporting results at Cambridge.

optimism

Latin

From French optimisme, built on Latin optimus ("best") plus -ism — originally referring to the philosophical view that this is the best of all possible worlds.

optimist

Latin

Borrowed from French optimiste, built on Latin optimus, "best."

optimistic

Origin

Formed from optimist plus the adjective ending -ic.

optimization

Latin

From optimize plus the noun ending -ation, ultimately from Latin optimus, "best."

optimize

Latin

Formed from optimum, the neuter of Latin optimus 'best', with the verb-forming ending -ize.

optimum

Latin

From Latin optimum, the neuter form of optimus, "best."

Optimus

Latin

From Latin optimus, "best" — popularized by the character Optimus Prime from the Transformers franchise.

option

Latin

From French option, from Latin optio, "choice," from optare, "to choose."

optional

Origin

Formed from option plus the adjective ending -al.

optometrist

Origin

Formed from optometry plus the person-suffix -ist.

opulence

Latin

From Latin opulentia 'wealth, riches', from opulentus 'rich', related to ops 'power, resources'.

opulent

Latin

From Latin opulentus, "wealthy," related to ops, "wealth, power, resources."

opus

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin opus, "work."

or

Old English

From Middle English or, partly a contraction of "other" and partly from Old English oththe, both meaning roughly "or."

ora

Old English

A learned borrowing from Old English ora — related to the modern word "ore."

orach

Origin

From Middle English arage, from Anglo-Norman arace, arache; apparently an irregular derivation from Old French arepe, from classical Latin atriplex, from Ancient Greek ἀτράφαξυς (atráphaxus), of unknown origin (probably loaned).

oracle

Latin

From Old French oracle, from Latin oraculum, related to orare, "to speak, pray."

oracular

Origin

From Middle French oraculaire.

oral

Late Latin

From Late Latin oralis, from os, "mouth," plus the adjective ending -alis.

orally

Origin

Formed from oral plus the adverb ending -ly.

Oran

Arabic

As a city name, ultimately from Arabic وَهْرَان (wahrān), from a Berber word for "lion."

orange

Old French · 1500

From Old French pome orenge, ultimately traced through Arabic naranj and Persian back to Sanskrit naranga, "orange tree." The color sense only developed in English around the 1500s, after the fruit's name was already in use.

orangutan

Malay

From Malay orang hutan, literally "forest person" — from orang ("person") and hutan ("forest").

orate

Origin

Partly borrowed from Latin ōrātus, perfect passive participle of ōrō (“to speak; to pray”) and/or partly back-formation from oration, from Latin ōrātiō (“speech, discourse, oration”); either way, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, Latin or- + -ate.