# open

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈəʊ.pən/ · frequency rank #314

## Definitions
1. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
2. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
3. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
4. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
5. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
6. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
7. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
8. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
9. Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
10. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
11. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
12. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
13. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
14. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
15. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
16. Able to be used or interacted with in some way.
17. Not hidden or restricted.
18. Not hidden or restricted.
19. Not hidden or restricted.
20. Not hidden or restricted.
21. Not hidden or restricted.
22. Not hidden or restricted.
23. Not hidden or restricted.
24. Not hidden or restricted.
25. Not completed or finalised.
26. Not completed or finalised.
27. Not completed or finalised.
28. Not completed or finalised.
29. Not completed or finalised.
30. Not completed or finalised.
31. Having a free variable.
32. Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
33. Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.
34. Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.
35. Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
36. Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
37. Source code of a computer program that is not within the text of a macro being generated.
38. Having component words separated by spaces, as opposed to being joined together or hyphenated; for example, time slot as opposed to timeslot or time-slot.
39. Of a club, bat or other hitting implement, angled upwards and/or (for a right-hander) clockwise of straight.

## Etymology
Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
Cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Cimbrian offe (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Vilamovian ufa, uffa (“open”)
* Yiddish אָפֿן (ofn, “open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

## Easily confused with
- **own** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-own)
- **owe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-owe)
- **ore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-ore)
- **opt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opt)
- **ops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-ops)
- **OPM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opm)
- **opp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opp)
- **OPI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opi)
- **over** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-over)
- **oven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oven)
- **Owen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-owen)
- **owed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-owed)
- **opus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opus)
- **oppa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oppa)
- **ores** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-ores)
- **Oreo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oreo)
- **oxen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oxen)
- **Opie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-opie)
- **Oren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oren)
- **oppo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/open-vs-oppo)

## Common misspellings (5)
`oepn`, `openn`, `opne`, `oppen`, `poen`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/open