Etimology
From French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“I choose, select”). Equivalent to opt + -ion.
noun
option (plural options)
One of a set of choices that can be made. [from 19th c.]
The freedom or right to choose.
(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 mid-18th c.]
(law, uncountable) The acquiring or retention of a nationality through personal choice as a right, bypassing selective legal mechanisms for naturalization, especially in cases where a territory is transferred or passed on from one state to another.
Examples
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.
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.
There's a book out on us and there's gonna be a movie based on the book. ABC has bought the option for a movie to be made specially for T.V.
At that time every emigrant who was made aware of such a notification submitted his application for option to the British Consuls within the period prescribed.
A right of option, mostly in favour of the nationality of the predecessor State, has been accorded in most cases of partial State succession, either by treaty or by domestic legislation.
This group constitutes around 9 percent of the total number of acquisitions of Dutch nationality through option.
Related words
synonyms
alternative
choice
possibility
See also Thesaurus:option
hypernyms
(finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): derivative
hyponyms
(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
related terms
opt
optimal
optimise, optimize
optimism
optimist
optimistic
verb
option (third-person singular simple present options, present participle optioning, simple past and past participle optioned)
To purchase an option on something. [from 20th c.]
(computing, dated) To configure, by setting an option.
Examples
The new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.
The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing.