ours

English Online Dictionary. What means ours‎? What does ours mean?

English

Alternative forms

• our's (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈaʊəz/, /ɑːz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈaʊəɹz/, /ɑɹz/
• Rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ)z, -ɑː(ɹ)z
• Homophone: hours

Pronoun

ours (plural ours, the possessive case of we, used without a following noun)

1. That or those belonging to us.
   1. Excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive ours)

   2. Including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive ours).

2. That or those belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.

3. That or those belonging to people in general.

4. (colloquial) That or those belonging to everyone being addressed.

5. (colloquial, may seem patronising) That or those belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.

6. (colloquial) Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.

7. (informal) Our house or home.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Ruso, sour

French

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /uʁs/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): /uʁ/ (archaic pronunciation, either for both numbers or only for the plural)
• Homophones: ourse, ourses

Noun

ours m (plural ours, feminine ourse)

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

      faire l’ours ― to be a loner
   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

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “ours”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “ours” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.

Middle English

Pronoun

ours

1. Alternative form of oures

Middle French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French urs, from Latin ursus, from Proto-Italic *orssos.

Noun

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

1. bear

Descendants

• French: ours