Etymology From Middle English or, oor, blend of Old English ōra (“ore, unwrought metal”) and ār (“brass, copper, bronze”), the first a derivate of ear (“earth”), the second from Proto-West Germanic *aiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *aiz, from Proto-Indo-European *áyos, h₂éyos. Compare Old Norse eir (“brass, copper”), German ehern (“of metal, of iron”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌶 (aiz, “ore”); also Dutch oer (“ferrous hardpan; bog iron ore”). Compare Latin aes (“bronze, copper”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (aiiah), Sanskrit अयस् (áyas, “copper, iron”).
1
Rock or other material that contains valuable or utilitarian materials; primarily a rock containing metals or gems for which it is typically mined and processed.
They generally occur in the earth in what are called veins, and are seldom found in the pure metallic state, but generally in combination with some other substance, in which state they are called ores.1846, editorial staff, “CHEMISTRY: Continued from No. 12”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 2, Issue 13, page 102:
Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2021:
1 more example
Stepnohirsk grew into a town from the village of Sukhoivanivka in the 1980s after vast deposits of manganese ore nearby were discovered.2024 February 4, Sergey Panashchuk, Jannik Läkamp, Rebecca Jayne Husselbee, “On frontline in Ukrainian town making ‘final stand’ against Putin where bodies lie everywhere & shelling never stops”, in The Sun, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2024:
A unit of currency used in England around the 10th to 12th centuries.
In the time of Æthelred the Unready when the pound contained 240 pence, the ore was reckoned at 16 pence, but in earlier times there was probably much variation.1956, Peter Hunter Blair, An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, London; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 295:
ore
noun
Etymology A southern variant of ware (“seaweed”).
1
Archaic, Dialectal Seaweed, especially that which is washed up ashore.
ore
noun
Etymology Possibly originating as a figurative use of Etymology 1, with Leominster's "ore" representing the wealth of the town.
1
Historical A type of fine wool, especially of the type historically produced in the market town of Leominster, Herefordshire.
But then the ore of Lempſter / By Got is never a Sempſter; / That when he is ſpun, ore did, / Yet match him with hir thrida. 1638 (date written), Ben Jonson, “For the Honour of Wales”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R[ichard] Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, published 1692, →OCLC, page 608, column 1: