option

Etymology

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

noun

1. One of a set of choices that can be made.
   Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot. October 23, 2011, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport
   Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control. 2012-01, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 2012-01-08, page 74
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.
4. (law, uncountable) The acquiring or retention of a nationality through personal choice as a right, bypassing selective legal mechanisms for naturalization, especially in cases where a territory is transferred or passed on from one state to another.
   At that time every emigrant who was made aware of such a notification submitted his application for option to the British Consuls within the period prescribed. 1928, Appeal to the Noble English Nation by the Committee of the Defenders of the Rights of Palestinian Arab Emigrants to the Palestinian Citizenship, page 10
   A right of option, mostly in favour of the nationality of the predecessor State, has been accorded in most cases of partial State succession, either by treaty or by domestic legislation. 1998, Venice Commission, Consequences of State Succession for Nationality, page 45
   This group constitutes around 9 percent of the total number of acquisitions of Dutch nationality through option. 2012, Oliver W. Vonk, Dual Nationality in the European Union: A Study on Changing Norms[…], page 243, note 154

verb

1. To purchase an option on something.
   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.
   The device that is to echo the characters should be optioned for echoplexing. 1991, Martin D. Seyer, RS-232 made easy