-or

See also: Appendix:Variations of "or"

English

Alternative forms

-our (obsolete)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin -ātor

Old French -eorbor.

Middle English -our

▲

Latin -torlbor.

English -or

From Middle English -our, from Old French -eor, from Latin -ātor; reinforced by Old French -or and its source, Latin -tor, -tōrem.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
(General American, Canada) enPR: ər, IPA^(key): /ɚ/
(Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ə/
Homophones: -er; -a (non-rhotic)

Suffix

-or (noun-forming suffix, plural -ors)

Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed.
Synonyms: -er, (casual) -ster

Hyponyms: -a, -ess, -ette, -trix

Coordinate term: (converse form; one who receives from the actor) -ee

‎settle + ‎-or → ‎settlor

‎survive + ‎-or → ‎survivor
(electrical science) Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance
Resistors possess resistance and inductors possess inductance.

Usage notes

In Latin-derived words, English generally appends this suffix where Latin would do it—to the root of a perfect passive participle (i.e. past participle). For other words, English tends to use the suffix -er. Occasionally both are used (protester vs. protestor).

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -or

Related terms

-er (alternative spelling)
-trix (feminine form)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -order.

English -or

From Latin -or.

Suffix

-or (noun-forming suffix, plural -ors)

Used to form nouns of quality, state, or condition.
‎err + ‎-or → ‎error

Anagrams

r/o, Ro, R&O, RO

Albanian

Alternative forms

-uer, -uur — Gheg

Etymology

From Old Albanian -uor. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Suffix

-or m (feminine singular -ore, masculine plural -orë, feminine plural -ore)

forms relational adjectives and demonyms
‎Mirditë + ‎-or → ‎mirditor (“inhabitant of Mirdita”)
forms agent nouns
‎dasmë (“wedding”) + ‎-or → ‎dasmor (“wedding guest”)
forms many names for months

Usage notes

Formation with the article in the standard language is often based on Gheg roots, e.g.:
‎zâ + ‎-or → ‎zanor, rather than from zë

‎shkretinë + ‎-or → ‎shkretinor, rather than from shkretëtirë

Derived terms

Albanian terms suffixed with -or (month)

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ōrem.

Suffix

-or f (plural -ors)

used to create abstract nouns from adjectives; -ness
‎blanc (“white”) + ‎-or → ‎blancor (“whiteness”)

‎clar (“bright”) + ‎-or → ‎claror (“brightness”)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ōrem.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈu]
IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Northwestern) [ˈo]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈoɾ]

Suffix

-or f (noun-forming suffix, plural -ors)

used to create abstract nouns from adjectives; -ness
‎blanc (“white”) + ‎-or → ‎blancor (“whiteness”)

‎buit (“empty”) + ‎-or → ‎buidor (“emptiness”)
used to create abstract nouns from verbs; -th, -ence
‎escalfar (“to heat up”) + ‎-or → ‎escalfor (“heat, warmth”)

‎resplendir (“to shine”) + ‎-or → ‎resplendor (“brillance”)

Derived terms

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ōrem m.

Suffix

-or f (plural -ors) (ORB, broad)

Attaches to an adjective denoting a physical property to form the associated abstract noun.

Derived terms

Franco-Provençal terms suffixed with -or

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -tōr.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [oːɐ̯]

Suffix

-or

-or

Declension

Declension of *-or* [masculine, mixed]
	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	-or	die	-oren
genitive	eines	des	-ors	der	-oren
dative	einem	dem	-or	den	-oren
accusative	einen	den	-or	die	-oren

Derived terms

Ido

Etymology

Modeled after -ar and -os.

Suffix

-or

Used to denote the future infinitive of a verb.
Tu mustas kompror lakto kande tu es che la butiko.
You must buy milk when you are at the shop.

Related terms

-ar (present infinitive tense)
-ir (past infinitive tense)

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɔr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔr]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *-ōs, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōs, for original *-oss, compound suffix from *(é)-os (athematic) (neuter s-stem) +‎ *-s (masculine nominative).

The ō from the nominative case was made common to all cases originally with non-ablauting o (the three exceptions were arbor, mulier and Cerēs). Afterwards nom.sg. -ōr > -or, by Latin sound laws. Thus paradoxically, as in other r-stems (soror, -tor), in the resulting paradigm the one form with a short stem vowel is the only form whose stem was etymologically long.^[1]

Suffix

-or m (genitive -ōris); third declension

used to form an abstract noun from a verb root or conceived root form
Synonyms: -ēs, -tus

‎amō (“to love”) + ‎-or → ‎amor (“love”)

‎timeō (“to fear”, “to be afraid”) + ‎-or → ‎timor (“fear”)
(rare) used to form an abstract noun from an adjective
Synonyms: -tās, -ēdō, -tūdō

‎amārus (“bitter”) + ‎-or → ‎amāror (“bitterness”)

Usage notes

Almost always attached to verb bases, most frequently verbs of the second conjugation.^[2] A parallel derived adjective in -idus often exists. A small number of formations built on nouns or adjectives exist in early and late Latin; a number of Romance languages show extended use of the suffix as a means of forming abstract nouns from adjectives.^[2] Although -or generally forms abstract nouns referring to qualities, certain nouns have concrete senses when the meaning of the root allows: e.g. liquor (“fluidity/liquidity; fluid/liquid”), fulgor (“flashing, brightness; lightning; bright celestial body”), and tumor (“swelling; something swollen”).

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	-or	-ōrēs
genitive	-ōris	-ōrum
dative	-ōrī	-ōribus
accusative	-ōrem	-ōrēs
ablative	-ōre	-ōribus
vocative	-or	-ōrēs

Derived terms

Descendants

Italo-Romance: m
- Italian: -ore
Gallo-Romance: f
- Catalan: -or
- Franco-Provençal: -or
- French: -eur
- Occitan: -or
Ibero-Romance: m
- Portuguese: -or
- Spanish: -or

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Suffix

-or

first-person singular present passive indicative of -ō (first conjugation)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Suffix

-or

first-person singular present passive indicative of -ō (third conjugation)

References

^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Cooper, Frederic Taber (1975), Word Formation in the Roman Sermo Plebeius‎^[1], →ISBN, pages 25-27

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

-ur (Midlandsnormalen)
-er (current standard)

Etymology

From Old Norse -ur, the nominative/accusative, indefinite, plural ending of feminine ōn-stem nouns. The ending is maintained in many dialects, but since the spelling reform of 2012 the ending has been entirely superseded by -er. Cognate with Swedish -or.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /uːr/

Suffix

-or f

(pre-2012) a plural marker, used on weak feminine gender nouns, i.e. those ending in an unstressed -a.
Ei jenta → fleire jentor
A girl → more girls

References

Aasen, Ivar (1864) Norsk Grammatik

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /or/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ar-. Akin to Old High German -ar.

Alternative forms

-er

Suffix

-or (adjective-forming suffix)

forms adjectives from verbs denoting tendency or causation
‎*slīpan (“to slip, to glide”) + ‎-or → ‎slipor<t;slippery>

‎wacian (“to be awake, to be watchful”) + ‎-or → ‎wacor (“vigilant, watchful”)

Descendants

English: -er

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *-raz. Akin to Old Saxon -or, Old High German -ur.

Suffix

-or m (noun-forming suffix)

pleonastic suffix often found on masculine a-stem nouns, usually with no apparent change in meaning
‎ċeole (“throat”) + ‎-or → ‎ċeolor (“collar, throat”)

‎eald (“old”) + ‎-or → ‎ealdor (“chieftain, ruler”)

‎siġe (“victory”) + ‎-or → ‎sigor (“victory”)

‎telga (“branch, bough”) + ‎-or → ‎telgor (“branch, twig”)

‎dæġ (“day”) + ‎-or → ‎dōgor (“day”)

‎sele (“hall”) + ‎-or → ‎salor (“hall, palace”)

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	-or	-ras
accusative	-or	-ras
genitive	-res	-ra
dative	-re	-rum

Etymology 3

Suffix

-or (comparative adverb inflectional suffix)

forms the comparative degree of adverbs
‎hearde (“severely”) + ‎-or → ‎heardor (“more severely”)

‎trumlīċe (“firmly”) + ‎-or → ‎trumlīcor (“more firmly”)

Old French

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -(ā)tōrem

Old French -or

From Latin -(ā)tōrem, from Proto-Italic *-tōr, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr.

Alternative forms

-eor, -eour, -eur
-our (late Anglo-Norman)
-ur (early Anglo-Norman)

Suffix

-or (nominative singular -ere, occasionally -ors)

-er, suffix used to form agent nouns

Descendants

Middle French: -eur
- French: -eur
  - > Haitian Creole: -è (inherited)
  - → German: -eur
  - → Hungarian: -őr
  - → Russian: -ёр (-jór)
  - → Swedish: -ör
  - → Turkish: -ör
→ Middle English: -our (in part)
- English: -or (-er)
- Scots: -or (-er)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -ōrem

Old French -or

Inherited from Latin -ōrem, from Proto-Italic *-ōs, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōs.

Alternative forms

-eur
-our (late Anglo-Norman)
-ur (early Anglo-Norman)

Suffix

-or (nominative singular -or)

-ness, indicates a quality, a characteristic
‎blanche + ‎-or → ‎blanchor (“whiteness”)

Derived terms

Old French terms suffixed with -or

blanchor

dolçor

grandur

Descendants

Middle French: -eur
- French: -eur
  - > Haitian Creole: -è (inherited)
Norman: -eux
→ Middle English: -our (in part)
- English: -or (-er)
- Scots: -or (-er)

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-orъ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔr/
Rhymes: -ɔr
Syllabification: -or

Suffix

-or m inan (noun-forming suffix)

forms augmentatives
‎język + ‎-or → ‎jęzor

Declension

Declension of -or

	singular	plural
nominative	-or	-ory
genitive	-ora	-orów
dative	-orowi	-orom
accusative	-or	-ory
instrumental	-orem	-orami
locative	-orze	-orach
vocative	-orze	-ory

Derived terms

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈoʁ/ [ˈoh]
- (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈoɾ/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈoʁ/ [ˈoχ]
- (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈoɻ/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈoɾ/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ɾi/

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Portuguese -or

Inherited from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic *-tōr, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr.

Suffix

-or m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ores, feminine -ora, feminine plural -oras)

forms agent nouns from verbs
‎produto + ‎-or → ‎produtor

Derived terms

Portuguese terms suffixed with -or (agent)

Related terms

-dor

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Portuguese -or

Inherited from Latin -or, from Proto-Italic *-ōs, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōs, from *-os + *-s.

Suffix

-or m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ores)

forms abstract nouns from adjectives
‎amargo + ‎-or → ‎amargor
forms abstract nouns from verbs
‎louvar + ‎-or → ‎louvor

Derived terms

Portuguese terms suffixed with -or (abstract)

Salar

Etymology

Perhaps derived from bir (“one”).

Suffix

-or

Donates indefinite article.
Oholda bosı-or vumış.
Once there was an old man.

Usage notes

In Salar, numbers come after the object:
Maña ol beş var.
I have five sons.

References

马伟 [Ma Wei] (2016), “-or”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages - Salar Language Studies], 青海 [Qīnghǎi, Qinghai]: 青海师范大学 [Qinghai Normal University], unpublished finalized project manuscript (国家社会科学基金项目结项稿, 定稿; National Social Science Fund of China), page 126

Serbo-Croatian

Suffix

-or (Cyrillic spelling -ор)

Suffix appended to words to create a masculine noun, usually denoting a profession or a performer, used chiefly for words of Latin origin.

Slovak

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔr/, [ɔr]

Suffix

-or

(hypothetical) genitive plural of -ra

Spanish

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Spanish -or

Inherited from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic *-tōr, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr.

Suffix

-or m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ores, feminine -or, feminine plural -ores)

forms agent nouns from verbs
‎revisar + ‎-or → ‎revisor

Derived terms

Spanish terms suffixed with -or (agent)

Related terms

-dor

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Spanish -or

Inherited from Latin -or, from Proto-Italic *-ōs, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōs, from *-os + *-s.

Suffix

-or m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ores)

forms abstract nouns from adjectives
‎dulce + ‎-or → ‎dulzor

Derived terms

Spanish terms suffixed with -or (abstract)

Swedish

Etymology

Usually corresponds to Icelandic -ur and Faroese -ur (if plural), and dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk -or, -ur or -o.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʊr/, [ʊᵝr]

Suffix

-or

A plural marker. This marker is the regular plural for common gender nouns ending with an unstressed -a. Such an -a disappears when -or is added. The marker is used, however, with a few other nouns as well.
‎docka (“doll”) + ‎-or → ‎dockor (“dolls”)

‎våg (“wave”) + ‎-or → ‎vågor (“waves”)
A plural marker used ironically for masculine or neuter nouns, to draw attention to something being feminine or diminutive.
‎tjej (“girl”) + ‎-or → ‎tjejer (“girls”)

‎tjej (“girl”) + ‎-or → ‎tjejor (“girlies”)

Anagrams

ro

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh -awr, from Proto-Brythonic *-ọr, from Latin -ārius.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔr/

Suffix

-or m (plural -orion)

person or man associated with root
Synonyms: -wr, -ydd

‎telyn (“harp”) + ‎-or → ‎telynor (“(male) harpist”)

‎llên (“literature”) + ‎-or → ‎llenor (“literary man, man o letters”)

‎carchar (“prison”) + ‎-or → ‎carcharor (“prisoner”)

Derived terms

Welsh terms suffixed with -or

References

R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “-or”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

[1] Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

[Cooper-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Cooper, Frederic Taber (1975), Word Formation in the Roman Sermo Plebeius‎^[1], →ISBN, pages 25-27

[1]

[2]

English

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Suffix

Usage notes

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

Etymology 2

Suffix

Anagrams

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Suffix

Usage notes

Derived terms

See also

Aragonese

Etymology

Suffix

Further reading

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Suffix

Derived terms

Further reading

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Suffix

Derived terms

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Suffix

Declension

Derived terms

Ido

Etymology

Suffix

Related terms

Latin

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Suffix

Usage notes

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

See also

Etymology 2

Suffix

Etymology 3

Suffix

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Suffix

See also

References

Old English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Suffix

Descendants

Etymology 2

Suffix

Declension

Etymology 3

Suffix

Old French

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Suffix

Descendants