ours
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- (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
[edit]ours
- 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
[edit]Translations
[edit]
|
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ours”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- IPA(key): /uʁs/ (standard)
- IPA(key): /uʁ/ (archaic pronunciation, either for both numbers or only for the plural)
Audio: (file) - Homophones: ourse, ourses
Noun
[edit]ours m (plural ours, feminine ourse)
- bear
- (figurative) A person like a bear:
- 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)
- beast, beastly person [since 1820]
- (gay slang) bear (hairy gay man)
- (obsolete) pressman, worker with a hand printing press [1700s—1800s]
- loner, someone who avoids company [since 1671]
- masthead, imprint (list of a publication's main staff)
- (cinematography) rough cut
- (slang) prison, jail
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- Haitian Creole: ous
- Louisiana Creole: lours, lous
- Mauritian Creole: lours, lurs
- Seychellois Creole: lours
Further reading
[edit]- “ours”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
- “ours” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.
Middle English
[edit]Pronoun
[edit]ours
- Alternative form of oures
Middle French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old French urs, from Latin ursus, from Proto-Italic *orssos.
Noun
[edit]ours m (plural ours, feminine singular ourse, feminine plural ourses)
Descendants
[edit]- French: ours
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -s
- English 2-syllable words
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aʊə(ɹ)z
- Rhymes:English/aʊə(ɹ)z/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)z
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)z/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English pronouns
- English possessive pronouns
- English first person pronouns
- English terms with usage examples
- French terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French terms with collocations
- French terms with quotations
- French gay slang
- French terms with obsolete senses
- fr:Cinematography
- French slang
- fr:Ursids
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English pronouns
- Middle French terms inherited from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Latin
- Middle French terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French masculine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- frm:Animals