OPTION

option. option, choosing or wishing

---

option. Option, n. a choice, liberty of choosing, will

---

Op″tion (?), n. [[L. optio; akin to optare to choose, wish, optimus best, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. option.]] 1. 1. The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an alternative.
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. 2. 2. The exercise of the power of choice; choice.
Transplantation must proceed from the option of the people, else it sounds like an exile. Bacon. 3. 3. A wishing; a wish. Bp. Hall.
4. 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.
5. 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.
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. Syn. — Choice; preference; selection. — Option, Choice. Choice is an act of choosing; option often means liberty to choose, and implies freedom from constraint in the act of choosing.