# option

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɒpʃən/ · frequency rank #1,669

## Definitions
1. One of a set of choices that can be made.
2. The freedom or right to choose.
3. 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.
4. 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.

## Etymology
From French option, from Latin optiō (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from optō (“I choose, select”). Equivalent to opt + -ion.

## Easily confused with
- **Orion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/option-vs-orion)
- **Orton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/option-vs-orton)
- **ovation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/option-vs-ovation)
- **oration** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/option-vs-oration)
- **optional** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/option-vs-optional)
- **onion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/onion-vs-option)
- **optic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/optic-vs-option)
- **optics** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/optics-vs-option)
- **opinion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/opinion-vs-option)

## Common misspellings (8)
`opiton`, `opption`, `opsion`, `optino`, `optionn`, `optoin`, `opttion`, `otpion`

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