ours

English

Alternative forms

• our's (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English oures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to our +‎ -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced ourn (from Middle English ouren) in standard speech.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈaʊəz/, /ɑːz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈaʊəɹz/, /ɑɹz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ)z, -ɑː(ɹ)z
• Homophone: hours

Pronoun

ours (plural ours)

1. That or those belonging to us; the possessive case of we, used without a following noun.

   You can't take that! It's ours!

   Could we ask you to move, please. These seats are ours.

   Ours looks much nicer than theirs.

   This beach is a favourite of ours. (double possessive)

2. (informal) Our house or home.

   You can stay the night at ours if you like.

Derived terms

• both of ours
• friend of ours
• of ours

 

Translations

that which belongs to us

• Aghwan: 𐔱𐔴𐕐𐔼𐕒 (bešio)
• Arabic: لَنَا m (lanā)

  Egyptian Arabic: لينا (lina), بتعنا m (betaʕna), بتاعتنا f (betaʕetna), بتوعنا pl (betuʕna)

• Azerbaijani: bizimki
• Bahamian Creole: ah own
• Belarusian: наш (naš)
• Bikol Central: sato (bcl), satuya
• Bulgarian: наш (bg) (naš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 我們的 / 我们的 (zh) (wǒmen de); 咱們的 / 咱们的 (zánmen de); 咱的 (zh) (zán de)

• Coptic: ⲫⲱⲛ m (phōn) (Bohairic), ⲑⲱⲛ f (thōn) (Bohairic), ⲛⲟⲩⲛ pl (noun) (Bohairic), ⲡⲱⲛ m (pōn) (Sahidic), ⲧⲱⲛ f (tōn) (Sahidic), ⲛⲟⲩⲛ pl (noun) (Sahidic)
• Czech: náš (cs) m
• Danish: vores (da), vor (da)
• Dutch: het onze, de onze, die van ons
• Esperanto: la nia
• Finnish: meidän (fi)
• French: le nôtre (fr) m, la nôtre (fr) f, les nôtres (fr) m pl or f pl
• German: unserer (de) m, unsere (de) f or pl, unseres (de) n
• Greek: δικός μας (el) m (dikós mas), δικιά μας f (dikiá mas), δική μας (el) f (dikí mas), δικό μας (el) n (dikó mas), δικοί μας (el) m pl (dikoí mas), δικές μας (el) f pl (dikés mas), δικά μας (el) n pl (diká mas)

  Ancient: (article and possessive adjective in appropriate gender and number) ὁ ἡμέτερος (ho hēméteros)

• Hebrew: שלנו (shelánu)
• Hindi: हमारा (hi) (hamārā)
• Hungarian: mienk (hu), miénk (hu), mieink (hu)
• Italian: il nostro m, la nostra f, i nostri m pl, le nostre f pl
• Japanese: 私たちの (ja) (わたしたちの, watashitachi no), 私等の (わたしたちの, watashitachi no), 我らの (われらの, warera no), 我々の (ja) (われわれの, wareware no)
• Lao: ຂອງພວກເຮົາ (khǭng phūak hao)
• Latin: noster (la), nostri (la), nostrum (la)
• Latvian: mūsu, mūsējs, mūsējais
• Macedonian: наш (naš)
• Manchu: ᠮᡝᠨ᠋ᡳᠩᡤᡝ (meningge), ᠮᡠᠰᡝᠩᡤᡝ (musengge)
• Mazanderani: امنی (ameni)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: манайх (manajx)

  Mongolian: ᠮᠠᠨ᠋ᠤᠬᠢ (manuki)

• Polish: nasz (pl)
• Portuguese: o nosso m
• Romani: amaro m, amari f, amare pl
• Romanian: al nostru (ro) m, a noastră f, ai noștri m pl, ale noastre f pl
• Russian: наш (ru) (naš)
• Serbo-Croatian: naš (sh), наш
• Slovak: náš
• Slovene: nàš (sl)
• Spanish: lo nuestro
• Swedish: vår (sv) c, vårt (sv) n, våra (sv) pl
• Thai: ของเรา (kŏng rao)
• Turkish: bizimki (tr)
• Tuvan: бистии (bistii)
• Ukrainian: наш (uk) (naš)
• Urdu: ہمارا (hamārā)
• Uyghur: بىزنىڭكى (bizningki), بىزنىڭكىلەر pl (bizningkiler)
• Vietnamese: của chúng tôi
• Yakut: биһиэнэ (bihiene)
• Zazaki: emara

Anagrams

• Ruso, sour

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *orssos

Latin ursus

Old French urs

Middle French ours

French ours

Inherited from Middle French ours, from Old French urs, from Latin ursus, from Proto-Italic *orssos.

The Early Modern French pronunciation was /uʁ/ before consonants, /uʁz/ before vowels, and /uʁs/ in pausa. For the most part, the pausal pronunciations were eventually lost, but in some cases they were re-established as the basic form (reinforced in part by the spelling, in part by related words; in this case perhaps the feminine ourse).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uʁs/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /uʁ/ (archaic pronunciation, either for both numbers or only for the plural)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: ourse, ourses

Noun

ours m (plural ours, feminine ourse)

1. bear
2. (figurative) A person like a bear:
   1. loner, someone who avoids company [since 1671]

      faire l’ours ― to be a loner

      • 2024 May 25, “Couples Erasmus”, in Libération, →ISSN, page 5:

        Globalement, on trouvait que les Danois étaient un peu ours : ils disaient à peine bonjour quand on les croisait dans la résidence universitaire.

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   2. beast, beastly person [since 1820]
   3. (gay slang) bear (hairy gay man)
   4. (obsolete) pressman, worker with a hand printing press [1700s—1800s]
3. masthead, imprint (list of a publication's main staff)
4. (cinematography) rough cut
5. (slang) prison, jail

Derived terms

• ail des ours
• herbe aux ours
• il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué
• nounours
• oreille d’ours
• ours à face courte
• ours à lunette
• ours blanc
• ours brun
• ours en peluche
• ours mal léché
• ours malais
• ours marin
• ours noir
• ours polaire
• ourson

 

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: ous
• Louisiana Creole: lours, lous
• Mauritian Creole: lours, lurs
• Seychellois Creole: lours

Further reading

• “ours”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “ours” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.

Middle English

Pronoun

ours

1. Alternative form of oures

Middle French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *orssos

Latin ursus

Old French urs

Middle French ours

Inherited from Old French urs, from Latin ursus, from Proto-Italic *orssos.

Noun

ours m (plural ours, feminine singular ourse, feminine plural ourses)

1. bear

Descendants

• French: ours