"-or" meaning in English

See -or in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Suffix

IPA: /ə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ɚ/ [Canada, General-American], /ə/ [General-Australian, New-Zealand] Forms: -our [alternative, obsolete]
enPR: ər [Canada, General-American] Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin -ātor Old French -eorbor. Middle English -our English -or From Middle English -our, from Old French -eor, from Latin -ātor; reinforced by Old French -or and its source, Latin -tor, -tōrem. Etymology templates: {{etymon|en|:inh|enm:-our|id=-ator|tree=1}} Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin -ātor Old French -eorbor. Middle English -our English -or, {{inh|en|enm|-our}} Middle English -our, {{der|en|fro|-eor}} Old French -eor, {{der|en|la|-ātor}} Latin -ātor, {{cog|fro|-or}} Old French -or, {{cog|la|-tor|-tor, -tōrem}} Latin -tor, -tōrem Head templates: {{head|en|suffix|cat2=|cat3=|cat4=|head=|id=}} -or, {{en-suffix}} -or
  1. Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed. Tags: morpheme Synonyms: -er, -ster [informal] Coordinate_terms: -ee (english: converse form; one who receives from the actor)
    Sense id: en--or-en-suffix-en:agent_noun
  2. (electrical science) Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance Tags: morpheme
    Sense id: en--or-en-suffix-2yR2MWZc Categories (other): English entries with etymology trees, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with etymology trees Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 32 46 22 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 28 62 9 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 26 74 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 25 53 22 Topics: business, electrical, electrical-engineering, electricity, electromagnetism, energy, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, science, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: -er [alternative], -trix [feminine], -ist
Etymology number: 1 Derived forms: actor, assignor, author, bailor, debtor, donor, licensor, realtor, sculptor, settlor, sublicensor, trustor

Suffix

Forms: -our [alternative, obsolete]
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -order. English -or From Latin -or. Etymology templates: {{etymon|en|:der|la:-or<id:abstract nouns>|id=abstract nouns|tree=1}} Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -order. English -or, {{der|en|la|-or}} Latin -or Head templates: {{head|en|suffix|cat2=|cat3=|cat4=|head=|id=}} -or, {{en-suffix}} -or
  1. Used to form nouns of quality, state, or condition. Tags: morpheme
    Sense id: en--or-en-suffix-en:quality
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "actor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "assignor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "author"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "bailor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "debtor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "donor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "licensor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "realtor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "sculptor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "settlor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "sublicensor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "trustor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-our",
        "id": "-ator",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-tōr\nProto-Italic *-tōr\nLatin -tor\nLatin -ātor\nOld French -eorbor.\nMiddle English -our\nEnglish -or",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-our"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -our",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-eor"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -eor",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ātor"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ātor",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-or"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -or",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-tor",
        "3": "-tor, -tōrem"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -tor, -tōrem",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-tōr\nProto-Italic *-tōr\nLatin -tor\nLatin -ātor\nOld French -eorbor.\nMiddle English -our\nEnglish -or\nFrom Middle English -our, from Old French -eor, from Latin -ātor; reinforced by Old French -or and its source, Latin -tor, -tōrem.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "-our",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "",
        "cat3": "",
        "cat4": "",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ],
      "word": "-er"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "-trix"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "-ist"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "english": "converse form; one who receives from the actor",
          "translation": "converse form; one who receives from the actor",
          "word": "-ee"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "settle + -or → settlor",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "survive + -or → survivor",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed."
      ],
      "id": "en--or-en-suffix-en:agent_noun",
      "links": [
        [
          "agent noun",
          "agent noun#English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:agent noun"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "-er"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "-ster"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 46 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 62 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 74",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 53 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              9
            ],
            [
              33,
              42
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Resistors possess resistance and inductors possess inductance.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance"
      ],
      "id": "en--or-en-suffix-2yR2MWZc",
      "links": [
        [
          "extensive property",
          "extensive property#English"
        ],
        [
          "root",
          "root#English"
        ],
        [
          "-ance",
          "-ance#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(electrical science) Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "electrical",
        "electrical-engineering",
        "electricity",
        "electromagnetism",
        "energy",
        "engineering",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "physics",
        "science",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ər",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian",
        "New-Zealand"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "-er"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "-a (non-rhotic)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "-or"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":der",
        "3": "la:-or<id:abstract nouns>",
        "id": "abstract nouns",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *-ōs\nProto-Italic *-ōs\nLatin -order.\nEnglish -or",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-or"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -or",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *-ōs\nProto-Italic *-ōs\nLatin -order.\nEnglish -or\nFrom Latin -or.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "-our",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "",
        "cat3": "",
        "cat4": "",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "err + -or → error",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form nouns of quality, state, or condition."
      ],
      "id": "en--or-en-suffix-en:quality",
      "senseid": [
        "en:quality"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "-or"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with etymology trees",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English noun-forming suffixes",
    "English suffixes",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Italic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Pages using catfix",
    "Pages using etymon with no ID",
    "Pages with 17 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Pages with etymology trees"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "actor"
    },
    {
      "word": "assignor"
    },
    {
      "word": "author"
    },
    {
      "word": "bailor"
    },
    {
      "word": "debtor"
    },
    {
      "word": "donor"
    },
    {
      "word": "licensor"
    },
    {
      "word": "realtor"
    },
    {
      "word": "sculptor"
    },
    {
      "word": "settlor"
    },
    {
      "word": "sublicensor"
    },
    {
      "word": "trustor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-our",
        "id": "-ator",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-tōr\nProto-Italic *-tōr\nLatin -tor\nLatin -ātor\nOld French -eorbor.\nMiddle English -our\nEnglish -or",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-our"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -our",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-eor"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -eor",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ātor"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ātor",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-or"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -or",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-tor",
        "3": "-tor, -tōrem"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -tor, -tōrem",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-tōr\nProto-Italic *-tōr\nLatin -tor\nLatin -ātor\nOld French -eorbor.\nMiddle English -our\nEnglish -or\nFrom Middle English -our, from Old French -eor, from Latin -ātor; reinforced by Old French -or and its source, Latin -tor, -tōrem.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "-our",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "",
        "cat3": "",
        "cat4": "",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "related": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ],
      "word": "-er"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "-trix"
    },
    {
      "word": "-ist"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "english": "converse form; one who receives from the actor",
          "translation": "converse form; one who receives from the actor",
          "word": "-ee"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "settle + -or → settlor",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "survive + -or → survivor",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "agent noun",
          "agent noun#English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:agent noun"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "-er"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "-ster"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              9
            ],
            [
              33,
              42
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Resistors possess resistance and inductors possess inductance.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "extensive property",
          "extensive property#English"
        ],
        [
          "root",
          "root#English"
        ],
        [
          "-ance",
          "-ance#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(electrical science) Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed with -ance"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business",
        "electrical",
        "electrical-engineering",
        "electricity",
        "electromagnetism",
        "energy",
        "engineering",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "physics",
        "science",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "ər",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian",
        "New-Zealand"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "-er"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "-a (non-rhotic)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "-or"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with etymology trees",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English noun-forming suffixes",
    "English suffixes",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Italic",
    "Pages with 17 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Pages with etymology trees"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":der",
        "3": "la:-or<id:abstract nouns>",
        "id": "abstract nouns",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *-ōs\nProto-Italic *-ōs\nLatin -order.\nEnglish -or",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-or"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -or",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *-os\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *-ōs\nProto-Italic *-ōs\nLatin -order.\nEnglish -or\nFrom Latin -or.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "-our",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "",
        "cat3": "",
        "cat4": "",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "-or",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "err + -or → error",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form nouns of quality, state, or condition."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:quality"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "-or"
}

Download raw JSONL data for -or meaning in English (5.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-04-01 using wiktextract (4d423fd and 9452535). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.