different between wish vs option

English

Etymology

From Middle English wisshen, wischen, wüschen, from Old English w?s?an (“to wish”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunskijan, from Proto-Germanic *wunskijan? (“to wish”), from Proto-Indo-European *wun-, *wenh?- (“to wish, love”).

Cognate with Scots wis (“to wish”), Saterland Frisian wonskje (“to wish”), West Frisian winskje (“to wish”), Dutch wensen (“to wish”), German wünschen (“to wish”), Danish ønske (“to wish”), Icelandic æskja, óska (“to wish”), Latin Venus, veneror (“venerate, honour, love”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?sh, IPA^(key): /w??/
• Rhymes: -??
• Homophone: whish (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

wish (plural wishes)

1. A desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.
2. An expression of such a desire, often connected with ideas of magic and supernatural power.
3. The thing desired or longed for.
   • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

     "I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs White. "The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?" / "Might drop on his head from the sky," said the frivolous Herbert.

4. (Sussex) A water meadow.

Usage notes

• Collocates with make for the common expression make a wish. See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• precatory
• velleity

Verb

wish (third-person singular simple present wishes, present participle wishing, simple past and past participle wished)

1. (transitive) To desire; to want.
   • 1716, Jonathan Swift, Phyllis, or the Progress of Love

     Now John the butler must be sent
     To learn the road that Phyllis went:
     The groom was wished to saddle Crop;
     For John must neither light nor stop,
     But find her, wheresoe'er she fled,
     And bring her back alive or dead.
2. (transitive, now rare) To hope (+ object clause with may or in present subjunctive).
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 84:

     I wish he mean me well, that he takes so much pains!

   • 1808, Jane Austen, letter, 1 October:

     She hears that Miss Bigg is to be married in a fortnight. I wish it may be so.

3. (intransitive, followed by for) To hope (for a particular outcome).
   • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures

     This is as good an argument as an antiquary could wish for.

   • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw

     Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."

4. (ditransitive) To bestow (a thought or gesture) towards (someone or something).
   • Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil.

5. (intransitive, followed by to and an infinitive) To request or desire to do an activity.
6. (transitive) To recommend; to seek confidence or favour on behalf of.
   • 1610, Ben Jonson, The Alchemist

     I was wished to your worship by a gentleman.

Usage notes

• In sense 4, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

Translations

References

• wish at OneLook Dictionary Search
• wish in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From French option, from Latin opti? (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from opt? (“I choose, select”). Equivalent to opt +? -ion.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??p??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??p??n/

Noun

option (plural options)

1. One of a set of choices that can be made. [from the 19th c.]
2. The freedom or right to choose.
3. (finance, law) A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price; can apply to financial market transactions, or to ordinary transactions for tangible assets such as a residence or automobile. [from the mid-18th c.]

Synonyms

• alternative
• choice
• possibility
• See also Thesaurus:option

Hypernyms

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): derivative

Hyponyms

• (finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset): American option, Bermudan option, European option, call option or call, put option or put, warrant

Derived terms

• optionable
• optional
• option button
• stock option

Related terms

• opt
• optimal
• optimise, optimize
• optimism
• optimist
• optimistic

Translations

Verb

option (third-person singular simple present options, present participle optioning, simple past and past participle optioned)

1. To purchase an option on something. [from the 20th c]

   The new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.

2. (computing, dated) To configure, by setting an option.
   • 1991, Martin D. Seyer, RS-232 made easy

     The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing.

Further reading

• option in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• option in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• potion

Finnish

Noun

option

1. Genitive singular form of optio.

Anagrams

• opinto, opinto-

French

Etymology

From Latin opti? (“choice; option; act of choosing”), from opt? (“I choose, select”).

Pronunciation

Noun

option f (plural options)

1. option

Further reading

• “option” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).