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Origin and history of opine

opine(v.)

mid-15c., opinen, "express an opinion or opinions; to think, suppose," also transitive, "be of the opinion that," from Old French oppiner, opiner (15c.) and directly from Latin opinari "have an opinion, be of opinion, suppose, conjecture, think, judge," which is of unknown origin. It is traditionally considered to be related to optare "to desire, choose" (see option), but de Vaan's sources find the evidence of this weak. Related: Opined; opining.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to opine

option(n.)

c. 1600, "action of choosing;" 1630s, "power or liberty of choosing," from French option (Old French opcion), from Latin optionem (nominative optio) "choice, free choice, liberty to choose," from optare "to desire, pray for, choose," which is of uncertain origin. De Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *opeje- "to choose, grab," from PIE *hopeie- "to choose, grab," and compares Hittite epp/app- "to take, grab," Sanskrit apa, Avestan apa "has reached."

The meaning "thing that may be chosen" is attested from 1885. The commercial transaction sense of "privilege secured by payment of a premium (on a stock or a certain produce at a specified time and at a specified price)" is recorded from 1755 (the verb in this sense is attested by 1880 in American English). As a North American football play in which the back may either pass the ball or run with it, it is recorded by 1953.

opiniated(adj.)

"obstinately attached to one's opinion," 1590s, past-participle adjective from opiniate (1620s) "maintain dogmatically or obstinately" (from Latin opinio "opinion"), a verb once used where now we use opine. Also see opinionated.

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    Trends of opine

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    animadvert
    early 15c., animadverten, "to take notice of," from Latin animadvertere "to notice, take cognizance of," also "to censure, blame, punish," literally "turn the mind to," from animus "the mind" (see animus) + advertere "turn to" (see advertise). The sense of "to criticize, blame, c
    think
    Old English þencan "imagine, conceive in the mind; consider, meditate, remember; intend, wish, desire" (past tense þohte, past participle geþoht), probably originally "cause to appear to oneself," from Proto-Germanic *thankjan (source also of Old Frisian thinka, Old Saxon thenkia
    suppose
    c. 1300, supposen, "hold as a belief or opinion; make a hypothesis, assume as the basis of argument" without regard to truth or falsehood, from Old French suposer "to assume" (13c.), probably a replacement (influenced by Old French poser "put, place") of *suppondre, from Latin su
    opinion
    opinion, conjecture, fancy, belief, what one thinks; appreciation, esteem," from stem of opinari "think, judge, suppose, opine...
    suspect
    early 14c., "suspected of wrongdoing, under or open to suspicion; of dubious or bad character;" mid-14c., "regarded with mistrust, liable to arouse suspicion," from Old French suspect (14c.) and directly from Latin suspectus "suspected, regarded with suspicion or mistrust." This
    anticipate
    1530s, "to cause to happen sooner," a back-formation from anticipation, or else from Latin anticipatus, past participle of anticipare "take (care of) ahead of time," literally "taking into possession beforehand," from anti, an old form of ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front
    guess
    c. 1300, gessen "to infer from observation, perceive, find out; form an opinion, judge, decide, discern; evaluate, estimate the number, importance, etc. of," perhaps from Scandinavian (compare Middle Danish gitse, getze "to guess," Old Norse geta "guess, get"), or from or influen
    declare
    mid-14c., declaren, "explain, interpret, make clear;" late 14c., "make known by words, state explicitly, proclaim, announce," from Old French declarer "explain, elucidate," or directly from Latin declarare "make clear, reveal, disclose, announce," from de-, here perhaps an intens
    imagine
    mid-14c., "to form a mental image of," from Old French imaginer "sculpt, carve, paint; decorate, embellish" (13c.), from Latin imaginari "to form a mental picture, picture to oneself, imagine" (also, in Late Latin imaginare "to form an image of, represent"), from imago "an image,
    except
    late 14c., excepten, "to receive," from Old French excepter (12c.), from Latin exceptus, past participle of excipere "to take out, withdraw; make an exception, reserve," from ex "out" (see ex-) + capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." Meaning "to leave out" is from 151

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