ours

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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.[1]

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ours

  1. That which belongs to us; the possessive case of we, used without a following noun.
    You can't take that! It's ours!

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ours”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French ours, from Old French urs, from Latin ursus.

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

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Noun

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ours m (plural ours, feminine ourse)

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

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Descendants

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

Further reading

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Middle English

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Pronoun

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ours

  1. Alternative form of oures

Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French urs, from Latin ursus.

Noun

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

  1. bear (mammal)

Descendants

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