ore

C2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /oɹ/ UK /ɔː/ See IPA manual

Homophones

oar /oɹ/

Freq #13392

Meanings

1

noun
Rock from which valuable metal or minerals can be extracted.

The mine produced iron ore for the steel factory.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms ores

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

uranium ore
rock or mineral material from which uranium can be obtained

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Ore is an Old English word related to iron. Iron probably came from a Celtic source and was also related to Latin aes, “bronze.”

Etymology

From Middle English or, oor, blend of Old English ōra (“ore, unwrought metal”) and ār (“brass, copper, bronze”), the first a derivate of ear (“earth”), the second from Proto-West Germanic *aiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *aiz, from Proto-Indo-European *áyos, h₂éyos. Compare Old Norse eir (“brass, copper”), German ehern (“of metal, of iron”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌶 (aiz, “ore”); also Dutch oer (“ferrous hardpan; bog iron ore”). Compare Latin aes (“bronze, copper”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (aiiah), Sanskrit अयस् (áyas, “copper, iron”).

or Middle English ōra Old English *aiʀ Proto-West Germanic *aiz Proto-Germanic *áyos Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# ore

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /oɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɔː/
**Frequency rank:** 13392

## Meanings
1. Rock from which valuable metal or minerals can be extracted.

## Examples
- The mine produced iron ore for the steel factory.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: or
- Root: ōra
- Root: *aiʀ
- Root: *aiz
- Root: *áyos

## Etymology
From Middle English or, oor, blend of Old English ōra (“ore, unwrought metal”) and ār (“brass, copper, bronze”), the first a derivate of ear (“earth”), the second from Proto-West Germanic *aiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *aiz, from Proto-Indo-European *áyos, h₂éyos. Compare Old Norse eir (“brass, copper”), German ehern (“of metal, of iron”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌶 (aiz, “ore”); also Dutch oer (“ferrous hardpan; bog iron ore”). Compare Latin aes (“bronze, copper”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (aiiah), Sanskrit अयस् (áyas, “copper, iron”).

## AI Etymology
Ore is from Middle English or, oor, blend of Old English ōra (“ore, unwrought metal”) and ār (“brass, copper, bronze”), the first a derivate of ear (“earth”), the second from Proto-West Germanic *aiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *aiz, from Proto-Indo-European *áyos, h₂éyos. Compare Old Norse eir (“brass, copper”), German ehern (“of metal, of iron”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌶 (aiz, “ore”); also Dutch oer (“ferrous hardpan; bog iron ore”). Compare Latin aes (“bronze, copper”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬵 (aiiah), Sanskrit अयस् (áyas, “copper, iron”). Important recorded forms include or (Middle English), ōra (Old English), *aiʀ (Proto-West Germanic), *aiz (Proto-Germanic), and *áyos (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include rock from which valuable metal or minerals can be extracted.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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