option

Where does the word "option" come from? It comes from Latin optio, passing through French before entering English (1600s).

Option’s story begins in Latin: optio meant “free choice.” From 'optare', to choose, the root of 'adopt'. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in French as option. Latin 'optio' meant free choice, from 'optare', to wish; the stock-market sense is recorded from 1755. It reached English by 1600s as option. Stock 'options' date from the 1700s. Today, option means a choice.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient optio "free choice", from 'optare', to choose, the root of 'adopt'.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1500s option "option", Latin 'optio' meant free choice, from 'optare', to wish; the stock-market sense is recorded from 1755.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s option "choice", stock 'options' date from the 1700s.