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 *opinus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative nec-opinus (“not expecting”) and in-opinus (“not expected”); akin to optare (“to choose, desire”), and to apisci (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ə(ʊ)ˈpaɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊˈpaɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• 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, now rare) 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)

• 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)
• Polish: opiniować, wydawać opinię
• Portuguese: opinar (pt)
• Slovene: meniti
• 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 Latin and 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. first-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.