offer
See also: Offer
English
Alternative forms
- offre (obsolete)
- offa (pronunciation spelling)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɒfə(ɹ)/, /ˈɔːfə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɔfɚ/
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɑfɚ/
- Rhymes: -ɒfə(ɹ), -ɔːfə(ɹ)
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: of‧fer
Etymology 1
From Middle English offer, from Old English offrian (“offer or make a sacrifice”) rather than from Old French offre (“offer”), from offrir (“to offer”), from Latin offerō (“to present, bring before”). Compare North Frisian offer (“sacrifice, donation, fee”), Dutch offer (“offering, sacrifice”), German Opfer (“victim, sacrifice”), Danish offer (“victim, sacrifice”), Icelandic offr (“offering”). See verb below.
Noun
offer (plural offers)
- A proposal that has been made.
- What's in his offer?
- I decline your offer to contract.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
- Something put forth, bid, proffered or tendered.
- His offer was $3.50 per share.
- (law) An invitation to enter into a binding contract communicated to another party which contains terms sufficiently definite to create an enforceable contract if the other party accepts the invitation.
- His first letter was not a real offer, but an attempt to determine interest.
Derived terms
- make an offer
Descendants
- → Tokelauan: ofo
Translations
proposal
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something put forth
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law: invitation to enter binding contract
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Etymology 2
From Middle English offren, offrien. In the religious senses inherited from Old English offrian (“to offer, sacrifice, bring an oblation”); otherwise from Old French ofrir. Both ultimately from Latin offerō (“to present, bestow, bring before”, literally “to bring to”), from Latin ob + ferō (“bring, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”), later reinforced by Old French offrir (“to offer”). Cognate with Old Frisian offria (“to offer”), Old Dutch offrōn (“to offer”), German opfern (“to offer”), Old Norse offra (“to offer”). More at ob-, bear.
Verb
offer (third-person singular simple present offers, present participle offering, simple past and past participle offered)
- (intransitive) To propose or express one's willingness (to do something).
- She offered to help with her homework.
- (transitive) To present in words; to proffer; to make a proposal of; to suggest.
- Everybody offered an opinion.
- (transitive) To place at someone’s disposal; to present (something) to be either accepted or turned down.
- He offered use of his car for the week. He offered his good will for the Councilman's vote.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:
- Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
- (transitive) To present (something) to God or gods as a gesture of worship, or for a sacrifice.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Exodus xxix:36:
- Thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement.
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- (transitive, engineering) To place (something) in a position where it can be added to an existing mechanical assembly.
- 2009, Roger Williams, Triumph Tr2, 3, 3a, 4 & 4a:
- The next stage is to remove and replace the top part of the right side lip, and offer the lid to the car to ensure all the shapes and gaps are okay.
-
- (transitive) To bid, as a price, reward, or wages.
- I offered twenty dollars for it. The company is offering a salary of £30,000 a year.
- (intransitive) To happen, to present itself.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- The occasion offers, and the youth complies.
- 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], OCLC 731622352, page 72:
- The opportunity however did not offer till next morning, for Phœbe did not come to bed till long after I was gone to ſleep:
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 2, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299, page 7:
- Much was I disappointed upon learning that the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of reaching that place would offer, till the following Monday.
-
- (obsolete) To make an attempt; typically used with at.
- a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, OCLC 557721855:
- I will not offer at that I cannot master.
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], OCLC 228727523:
- He would be offering at the shepherd's voice.
- 1711 December 8, [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, OCLC 1204920679, pages 19–20:
- [W]ithout offering at any other Remedy, without taking time to conſider the Conſequences, or to reflect on our own Condition, we haſtily engaged in a War which hath coſt us ſixty Millions; […]
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292:
- Here Jones, after expressing the utmost uneasiness, offered to stop her mouth:—“Hey-day! why sure, Mr Jones, you will let me speak; I speaks no scandal, for I only says what I heard from others […]
-
- (transitive) To put in opposition to; to manifest in an offensive way; to threaten.
- to offer violence to somebody
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the to-infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Related terms
- offering
- offertory
- oblate
- oblation
Translations
propose
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to present something as a gesture of worship
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place at disposal
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Etymology 3
off + -er
Noun
offer (plural offers)
- (used in combinations from phrasal verbs) agent noun of off
- 2003, James-Jason Gantt, Losing Summer, →ISBN, page 146:
- Once you finally discover yourself a dismember-er, a de-limber, a fucking head-cutter-offer, the most simple of tasks — enjoying a long walk outside, seeing a movie, conversing with a stranger in the library — all become prized and over-inflated moments of elation.
-
Anagrams
- offre, reffo
Danish
Noun
offer n (singular definite ofret or offeret, plural indefinite ofre)
- sacrifice
- victim
Inflection
Declension of offer
| neuter gender | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | offer | ofret offeret | ofre | ofrene |
| genitive | offers | ofrets offerets | ofres | ofrenes |
Derived terms
- slagteoffer
- ofre
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɔfər/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: of‧fer
- Rhymes: -ɔfər
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch offere, from Old Dutch [Term?].
Noun
offer n (plural offers, diminutive offertje n)
- sacrifice
- victim
Derived terms
- brandoffer
- offeren
- plengoffer
- reukoffer
- slachtoffer
- zoenoffer
Descendants
- Negerhollands: offer
- → Papiamentu: offer (dated)
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
offer
- first-person singular present indicative of offeren
- imperative of offeren
Latin
Verb
offer
- second-person singular present active imperative of offerō
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse offr.
Noun
offer n (definite singular offeret, indefinite plural offer or ofre, definite plural ofra or ofrene)
- a sacrifice
- a victim, a casualty
Derived terms
- dødsoffer
- selvmordsoffer
References
- “offer” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Old Norse offr.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɔfɛr/
Noun
offer n (definite singular offeret, indefinite plural offer, definite plural offera)
- a sacrifice
- a victim, a casualty
- Offera var alle drepne på same måten.
- The victims were all killed in the same manner.
Derived terms
- dødsoffer
- soloffer
References
- “offer” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse offr.
Pronunciation
audio (file)
Noun
offer n
- sacrifice
- victim
Declension
| Declension of offer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | offer | offret | offer | offren |
| Genitive | offers | offrets | offers | offrens |
Derived terms
Derived terms
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|
|
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References
- offer in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- offer in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- offer in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
- offer in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
- offer in Knut Fredrik Söderwall, Ordbok öfver svenska medeltids-språket, del 2:1: M-T
- offer in Reverso Context (Swedish-English)
Anagrams
- Roffe
Welsh
Etymology
Apparently from Middle Welsh offer (“an offer”), from Middle English offer, from Old French offre, though the semantic development is unclear.
Pronunciation
- (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA(key): /ˈɔfɛr/
- (North Wales, colloquial) IPA(key): /ˈɔfar/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /ˈoːfɛr/, /ˈɔfɛr/
- Rhymes: -ɔfɛr
Noun
offer f (plural offerau or offeriau or offrau)
- equipment
Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | h-prothesis |
| offer | unchanged | unchanged | hoffer |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||