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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

opt en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ɑpt/ (General-American)
  • /ɔpt/ (Australia)
  • /ɒpt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

First attested in 1853; borrowed from French opter, from Latin optō (“to choose; to select”). Doublet of optate.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To choose; select.
    • .... ardent anti-Germans who had 'opted' for France 1872 November 12, “Strasburg Germanised”, in Daily News, London, page 5:
    • They opted against taking the train, preferring the bus.
    • Chepstow is good for excursions, and Bradshaw tells me I can get a fly to Tintern Abbey, although the fare structure seems particularly complicated. Alternatively, I could go for a simpler choice and just opt for "single horse, 1s", although I doubt I'd survive to tell the tale. 2023 February 22, Stephen Roberts, “Reading... between the lines... to Wales”, in RAIL, number 977, page 59:
    • He opted not to go.
    • The Italian opted for Bolton's Cahill alongside captain John Terry - and his decision was rewarded with a goal after only 13 minutes. Bulgaria gave a hint of defensive frailties to come when they failed to clear Young's corner, and when Gareth Barry found Cahill in the box he applied the finish past Nikolay Mihaylov. 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2020:
    • She opted for the salad rather than the steak.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
opts Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
opted Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
opted Tense=Past lexicographic
opting Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

opt out · opt in · opt-in · opt-out

Relateds

optate · adopt · option · co-opt · optant · optative · optional · optation

Translations (22)

eo elekti (to choose) · de wählen (to choose) · es escoger (to choose) · de optieren (to choose) · de sich entscheiden (to choose) · ru реша́ть (to choose) · pt optar (to choose) · es optar (to choose) · fi päättää (to choose) · cmn 选择 (to choose) · sv välja (to choose) · bg избирам (to choose) · la optō (to choose) · fi valita (to choose) · fr opter (to choose) · ca optar (to choose) · bg спирам се на (to choose) · es elegir (to choose) · es seleccionar (to choose) · ro opta (to choose) · ru выбира́ть (to choose) · it optare (to choose)