Option

From French option, from Latin optiÅ ("choice; option; act of choosing"), from optÅ ("I choose, select"). Equivalent to opt + -tion.

Full definition of option

(plural options)

2011, October 23, Becky Ashton, QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea, 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.
2012-01, Steven Sloman, The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation, 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 â€œnudgesâ€ our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

The freedom or right to choose.
(finance)(legal) 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. from the mid-18th c
(graphical user interface) A button on a screen used to select an action (often "menu option")

(finance) (A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset) American option, Bermudan option, European option, call option or call, put option or put, warrant

To purchase an option on something. from the 20th cThe new novel was optioned by the film studio, but they'll probably never decide to make a movie from it.