Option

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Option \Op"tion\, n. [L. optio; akin to optare to choose, wish,
     optimus best, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. option.]
     1. The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an
        alternative.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              There is an option left to the United States of
              America, whether they will be respectable and
              prosperous, or contemptible and miserable, as a
              nation.                               --Washington.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The exercise of the power of choice; choice.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Transplantation must proceed from the option of the
              people, else it sounds like an exile. --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A wishing; a wish. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Ch. of Eng.) A right formerly belonging to an archbishop
        to select any one dignity or benefice in the gift of a
        suffragan bishop consecrated or confirmed by him, for
        bestowal by himself when next vacant; -- annulled by
        Parliament in 1845.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Stock Exchange) A stipulated privilege, given to a party
        in a time contract, of demanding its fulfillment on any
        day within a specified limit; also, the contract giving
        that privelege; as, an option to buy a stock at a given
        price; to exercise an option.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     Note: A person owning a stock may sell to another person an
           option or right to buy that stock at some specified
           price within a specified period of time, and in return
           will get a premium in consideration for giving the
           option. If the option price (the strike price) is above
           the market value for the entire period in which the
           option is valid, the option is typically not exercised,
           and expires with no need on the part of the stock owner
           to transfer the actual stock itself. If however the
           stock price rises above the option price, the holder of
           the option may exercise the option, and buy the stock
           at the specificed price, and may in turn resell the
           stock at the current market value, perhaps making a net
           profit on the transaction. The original holder of the
           stock will receive, in addition to the price at which
           the stock is sold, the price of the option, and will
           generally receive more money than if the stock itself
           were sold at the time that the option was sold. The
           actual profits for the transaction will depend on the
           fees that brokers charge for conducting the sales of
           options and stocks.
           [PJC]
  
     {Buyer's option}, an option allowed to one who contracts to
        buy stocks at a certain future date and at a certain
        price, to demand the delivery of the stock (giving one
        day's notice) at any previous time at the market price.
  
     {Seller's option}, an option allowed to one who contracts to
        deliver stock art a certain price on a certain future
        date, to deliver it (giving one day's notice) at any
        previous time at the market price. Such options are
        privileges for which a consideration is paid.
  
     {Local option}. See under {Local}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Choice; preference; selection.
  
     Usage: {Option}, {Choice}. Choice is an act of choosing;
            option often means liberty to choose, and implies
            freedom from constraint in the act of choosing.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  option
       n 1: the right to buy or sell property at an agreed price; the
            right is purchased and if it is not exercised by a
            stated date the money is forfeited
       2: one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen;
          "what option did I have?"; "there no other alternative";
          "my only choice is to refuse" [syn: {alternative}, {choice}]
       3: the act of choosing or selecting; "your choice of colors was
          unfortunate"; "you can take your pick" [syn: {choice}, {selection},
           {pick}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "option":
     alternate choice, alternative, call, chance, choice, discretion,
     druthers, election, emption, first option, first refusal,
     free choice, free decision, free will, full consent,
     noncontingent free will, opportunity, optionality, pleasure,
     possible choice, preemption, preference, prerogative, privilege,
     put, put and call, recourse, refusal, right, right of emption,
     right of preemption, say, say-so, selection, spread, stock option,
     straddle, strap, strip, way out, will and pleasure
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  option
       
          {command line option}
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  OPTION. Choice; Election; (q.v.) where the subject is considered.