our
detUS /æwɝ/ · /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/
Etymology From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“our”), German unser, unsere (“our”) Danish vor (“our”), Norwegian vår (“our”), and more distantly Latin noster.
9 senses
- 1Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed…
- 2Belonging to us, including the person(s) being addressed…
- 3Of, from, or belonging to any entity that the speaker is…
- 4Belonging to people in general.
- 5Belonging to everyone being addressed.
- 6Belonging to an individual being addressed; used…
- 7Belonging to a third person, especially someone in the…
- 8Used to imply connection between the speaker's…
- 9Used before a person's name to indicate that the person…
Determiner, First person, Possessive Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).
- Sorry, you're not invited to our party.
- Paying no attention to Lizzy, Mrs. Gibson began calling out our names in alphabetical order.2008, Mike Knudson, Steve Wilkinson, Raymond and Graham Rule the School:
Determiner, First person, Possessive Belonging to us, including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive our).
- We must try to save our marriage for the sake of our children.
Determiner, First person, Possessive Of, from, or 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.
- Our safety record at ABC Widgets is very good.
- In English, our nouns do not generally have gender.
1 more example
- Thirdly, I continue to attempt to interdigitate the taxa in our flora with taxa of the remainder of the world.1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:
Determiner, First person, Possessive Belonging to people in general.
- As we get older, our reactions get slower.
- As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
Colloquial, Determiner, First person, Possessive Belonging to everyone being addressed.
- How are we all tonight? Have we got our happy faces on?
Colloquial, Determiner, First person, Possessive Belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially of a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.
May seem patronising
- How are we feeling this morning, Mrs Miggins? Have we taken our tablets yet?
- You've been spending all your money boozing when you have a wife and family to support. I think we need to get our priorities straight.
Colloquial, Determiner, First person, Possessive, Uncommon Belonging to a third person, especially someone in the speaker's care.
- "I've just been to see Mrs Miggins." — "And how is she?" — "Not too good today. We've had a little problem with our tummy."
Colloquial, Determiner, First person, Possessive Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.
- Hey guys, in this video I'll show you how I make my upside-down sponge cake. First, let's get our ingredients weighed out.
Northern England, Scotland, Determiner, First person, Possessive Used before a person's name to indicate that the person is in one's family, or is a very close friend.
- I'm going to see our Terry for tea.
- Derived terms
- byrlady, dollar of our daddies, I'll go to the foot of our stairs, our asses, our era, our kid, our lass, peace for our time, peace in our time, year of our Lord
- Related terms
54 terms
Ime, me, myselfmemysen, mine, mymineme, we, us, ourselvesourselfoursen, oursourn, you, yourselfyoursen, yoursyourn, your, thou, thee, thyselftheeselfthysen, thine, thythine, youye, yourselves, you ally'all you guys yous, y'allselves, all yours y'all's you guys' your guys', all your y'all's your all's you guys' your guys', he, him, himselfhisselfhissen, hishisn, his, she, her, herselfhersen, hershern, ithit, itselfhitself, itshis, itshishits, they, them, themself, themselves, theirs, their, one, oneself, –, one's, themhem, 'em, themselvestheirsen, theirstheirn, The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun, including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete, archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.