OPTION

I. noun Etymology: French, from Latin ~-, optio free choice; akin to Latin optare to choose Date: 1593 an act of choosing, 2. the power or right to choose ; freedom of choice, a privilege of demanding fulfillment of a contract on any day within a specified time, a contract conveying a right to buy or sell designated securities, commodities, or property interest at a specified price during a stipulated period, a right of an insured person to choose the form in which payments due on a policy shall be made or applied, something that may be chosen: as, an alternative course of action , an item that is offered in addition to or in place of standard equipment, an offensive football play in which a back may choose whether to pass or run with the ball, see: choice II. transitive verb Date: 1926 to grant or take an ~ on, to acquire the exclusive right to use (an author's work) as the basis for a motion picture