• Ore

    Pronunciation

    • RP enPR: ô, IPA: /ɔː/
    • US enPR: ôr, IPA: /oʊɹ/, /ɔːɹ/
      • Rhymes: -ɔː(r)
    • in non-rhotic accents, awe in non-rhotic accents

    Origin

    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-Germanic *aiz (compare Old Norse eir ("brass, copper"), German ehern ("brazen, bronzen"), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌶 (aiz, "ore")), from Proto-Indo-European *áyos, h₂éyos. Confer Latin aes ("bronze, copper"), Avestan ayah, Sanskrit अयस् (áyas, "copper, iron").

    Full definition of ore

    Noun

    ore

    (countable and uncountable; plural ores)
    1. Rock that contains utilitarian materials; primarily a rock containing metals or gems which—at the time of the rock's evaluation and proposal for extraction—are able to be separated from its neighboring minerals and processed at a cost that does not exceed those materials' present-day economic values.
      • 2014-04-21, Subtle effects, 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.

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