# or

> English word · Conjunction · IPA /ə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #28

## Definitions
1. Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
2. An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms, the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
3. Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
4. Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).
5. Connects two equivalent names.

## Etymology
From Middle English or; partially contracted from other, auther, from Old English āþor, āwþer, āhwæþer ("some, any, either"; > either); and partially from Middle English oththe, from Old English oþþe, from Proto-Germanic *efþau (“or”).

## Easily confused with
- **OS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-os)
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-oz)
- **OT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ot)
- **ou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ou)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ow)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ox)
- **oy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-oy)
- **ov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ov)
- **out** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-out)
- **our** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-our)
- **own** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-own)
- **owe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-owe)
- **ore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ore)
- **owl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-owl)
- **org** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-org)
- **Orr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-orr)
- **orb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-orb)
- **OST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ost)
- **ova** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-ova)
- **OTC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-otc)

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