opportunity

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French opportunité, from Latin opportunitas

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.ti/
• (US) enPR: ä'pər-to͞oʹnə-tē, IPA^(key): /ˌɑpɚˈtunəti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

opportunity (plural opportunities)

1. A chance for advancement, progress or profit.

   Having a holiday is a great opportunity to relax.

   I wanted to become a professional, but because of my financial situation there were no opportunities.

   • 2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea”, BBC Sport:

     Chelsea also struggled to keep possession as QPR harried and chased at every opportunity, giving their opponents no time on the ball.

2. A favorable circumstance or occasion.

Derived terms

• business opportunity
• the ladder of opportunity
• Land of Opportunity
• equal opportunity
• photo opportunity
• opportunity cost
• when opportunity knocks

Related terms

• opportune
• opportunist
• opportunistic
• opportunism

Translations

chance for advancement, progress or profit

• Arabic: فُرْصَة f (furṣa)
• Asturian: oportunidá f
• Azeri: imkan (az)
• Bashkir: форсат (forsat)
• Belarusian: магчы́масць f (mahčýmascʹ), шанс m (šans), шанц m (šanc)
• Bulgarian: възмо́жност (bg) f (vǎzmóžnost)
• Catalan: oportunitat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機會 (zh), 机会 (zh) (jīhuì)

• Czech: příležitost (cs) f
• Dutch: kans (nl) f
• Estonian: võimalus
• Finnish: tilaisuus (fi), mahdollisuus (fi)
• French: occasion (fr) f, opportunité (fr) f
• Galician: oportunidade (gl) f
• German: Gelegenheit (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: εὐκαιρία f (eukairía)

• Hungarian: alkalom (hu)
• Irish: faill f, deis (ga) f
• Italian: occasione (it) f
• Japanese: 機会 (ja) (きかい, kikai)
• Kazakh: мүмкіндік (kk) (mümkindik)
• Korean: 기회 (ko) (gihoe) (機會 (ko))
• Latin: opportunitas f

• Latvian: iespēja f
• Macedonian: можност f (možnost)
• Maltese: opportunità f
• Occitan: oportunitat f
• Persian: فرصت (fa) (forsat)
• Polish: możliwość (pl) f, okazja (pl) f, sposobność f
• Portuguese: oportunidade (pt) f
• Romanian: oportunitate (ro) f
• Romansch: pussaivladad f (Rumantsch Grischun)
• Russian: возмо́жность (ru) f (vozmóžnostʹ), шанс (ru) m (šans)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: прилика f, пригода f

  Roman: prilika (sh) f, prigoda (sh) f

• Slovak: príležitosť f
• Slovene: priložnost (sl) f
• Spanish: oportunidad (es) f
• Swahili: fursa (sw)
• Swedish: tillfälle (sv)
• Tajik: фурсат (fursat)
• Telugu: అవకాశం (te) (avakāśaṃ)
• Turkish: fırsat (tr)
• Ukrainian: можли́вість f (možlývistʹ), шанс m (šans)
• Uzbek: imkoniyat (uz)
• Vietnamese: cơ hội (vi) (機會)

favorable circumstance or occasion

• Asturian: oportunidá f
• Bashkir: форсат (forsat)
• Catalan: oportunitat f
• Czech: příležitost (cs) f, šance (cs) f
• Finnish: tilaisuus (fi)
• Galician: oportunidade (gl) f
• German: Gelegenheit (de) f

• Latin: opportunitas f
• Occitan: oportunitat f
• Russian: удо́бный слу́чай m (udóbnyj slúčaj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: prilika (sh) f, prigoda (sh) f

• Spanish: oportunidad (es) f
• Swahili: fursa (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} kans (nl) f, ^{(please verify)} mogelijkheid (nl) f
• French: ^{(please verify)} opportunité (fr) f, ^{(please verify)} chance (fr) f
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kesempatan (id)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} opportunità (it) f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} mulighet (no) f, ^{(please verify)} sjanse (no) f
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} فرصت (fa) (forsat)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} oportunitate (ro) f

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: begin · wait · laughed · #791: opportunity · lines · personal · due

External links

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