# our

> English word · Determiner · IPA /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #76

## Definitions
1. Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).
2. Belonging to us, including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive our).
3. Of, from, or belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.
4. Belonging to people in general.
5. Belonging to everyone being addressed.
6. Belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially of a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.
7. Belonging to a third person, especially someone in the speaker's care.
8. Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.
9. Used before a person's name to indicate that the person is in one's family, or is a very close friend.

## Etymology
From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“our”), German unser, unsere (“our”) Danish vor (“our”), Norwegian vår (“our”), and more distantly Latin noster.

## Easily confused with
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-oz)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ow)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ox)
- **oy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-oy)
- **ov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ov)
- **out** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-out)
- **own** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-own)
- **owe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-owe)
- **owl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-owl)
- **ova** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ova)
- **OWS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ows)
- **over** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-over)
- **ours** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-ours)
- **oust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-oust)
- **outer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-outer)
- **outro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/our-vs-outro)
- **o** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/o-vs-our)
- **of** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/of-vs-our)
- **on** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/on-vs-our)
- **or** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/or-vs-our)

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