opine

See also: opiné and opiine

English

WOTD – 10 November 2009

Etymology 1

From Middle French opiner, from Latin opīnor (“to hold as an opinion”), from *opīnus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative nec-opīnus (“not expecting”) and in-opīnus (“not expected”); akin to optō (“to choose, desire”), and to apīscor (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə(ʊ)ˈpaɪn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /oʊˈpaɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -aɪn

Verb

opine (third-person singular simple present opines, present participle opining, simple past and past participle opined)

1. (intransitive) To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).

   I opined that matters would soon become considerably worse.

   "Your decisions," she opined, "have been unfailingly disastrous for this company."

2. (intransitive) To give one's formal opinion (on or upon something).

   I had to opine on the situation because I thought a different perspective was in order.

Derived terms

• opination

Related terms

• opinion
• opinionated

Translations

to have or express an opinion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 表述觀點, 表述观点 (biǎoshù guāndiǎn)

• Danish: mene
• Dutch: van mening zijn dat, opiniëren (nl)
• Esperanto: opinii (eo)
• Finnish: esittää mielipiteenään
• French: opiner (fr)
• German: meinen (de)

• Hungarian: vél (hu), vélekedik
• Ido: opinionar (io)
• Norwegian: mene (no)
• Polish: opiniować, wydawać opinię
• Portuguese: opinar (pt)
• Slovene: meniti
• Swedish: mena (sv)
• Telugu: ఆభిప్రాయపడుట (ābhiprāyapaḍuṭa)

to state as an opinion

• Catalan: opinar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 表示 (zh) (biǎoshì)

• Dutch: van mening zijn, opiniëren (nl), menen (nl)
• Finnish: esittää mielipiteenään, olla jotakin mieltä
• Ido: expresar (io)

• Italian: ritenere (it), affermare (it)
• Latin: opīnor
• Portuguese: opinar (pt)
• Russian: выска́зывать (ru) (vyskázyvatʹ) мне́ние (ru) (mnénije)
• Slovene: omeniti
• Spanish: opinar (es)

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ὀπός (opós, “juice of a plant”) +‎ -ine.

Noun

opine (plural opines)

1. (biochemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds, derived from amino acids, found in some plant tumours

Translations

Any of a class of organic compounds, derived from amino acids, found in some plant tumours

• Italian: opina (it) f

Further reading

• opine in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• opine in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: opinent, opines

Verb

opine

1. first-person singular present indicative of opiner
2. third-person singular present indicative of opiner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of opiner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of opiner
5. second-person singular imperative of opiner

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Italian

Noun

opine

1. plural of opina

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Portuguese

Verb

opine

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of opinar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of opinar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of opinar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of opinar

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈpine/

Verb

opine

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of opinar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of opinar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of opinar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of opinar.