overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

offer.

A proposal that has been made.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɒfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔːfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔfɚ/General-American/ˈɑfɚ/cot-caught-merger
  1. A proposal that has been made.

    What's in his offer?
    I decline your offer to contract.
  2. Something put forth, bid, proffered or tendered.

    His offer was $3.50 per share.
  3. An invitation to enter into a binding contract communicated to another party which contains terms sufficiently definite to create an enforceable contract if the other party accepts the invitation.

    His first letter was not a real offer, but an attempt to determine interest.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English offer, from Old English offrian (“offer or make a sacrifice”) rather than from Old French offre (“offer”), from offrir (“to offer”), from Latin offerō (“to present, bring before”). Compare North Frisian offer (“sacrifice, donation, fee”), Dutch offer (“offering, sacrifice”), German Opfer (“victim, sacrifice”), Danish offer (“victim, sacrifice”), Icelandic offr (“offering”). See verb below.

verb/ˈɒfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔːfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔfɚ/General-American/ˈɑfɚ/cot-caught-merger
  1. To propose or express one's willingness (to do something).

    intransitive
    She offered to help with her homework.
  2. To present in words; to proffer; to make a proposal of; to suggest.

    transitive
    Everybody offered an opinion.
  3. To place at someone’s disposal; to present (something) to be either accepted or turned down.

    transitive
    He offered use of his car for the week.
    He offered his good will for the Councilman's vote.
  4. To place at someone’s disposal; to present (something) to be either accepted or turned down. To present (something) for sale.

    transitive
  5. To present (something) to God or gods, as a gesture of worship or as a sacrifice.

    transitive
  6. To present (something) to the sight etc.; to provide for use, consideration etc.

    transitive
    The city offers beautiful architecture.
  7. To place (something) in a position where it can be added to an existing mechanical assembly.

    transitive
  8. To bid, as a price, reward, or wages.

    transitive
    I offered twenty dollars for it. The company is offering a salary of £30,000 a year.
  9. To happen, to present itself.

    intransitive
  10. To make an attempt; typically used with at.

    obsolete
  11. To put in opposition to; to manifest in an offensive or defensive way; to threaten.

    transitive
    to offer violence to somebody
    The peasants offered no resistance as they were rounded up.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English offren, offrien. In the religious senses inherited from Old English offrian (“to offer, sacrifice, bring an oblation”); otherwise from Old French ofrir. Both ultimately from Latin offerō (“to present, bestow, bring before”, literally “to bring to”), from Latin ob + ferō (“bring, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”), later reinforced by Old French offrir (“to offer”). Cognate with Old Frisian offria (“to offer”), Old Dutch offrōn (“to offer”), German opfern (“to offer”), Old Norse offra (“to offer”). More at ob-, bear.

noun/ˈɒfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔːfə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔfɚ/General-American/ˈɑfɚ/cot-caught-merger
  1. agent noun of off

    agent · form-of
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English off English -er English offer From off + -er.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

offer has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

offer studiooffer workshello, offer

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.