Offers

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɒfəz/

Definitions

1. Presents something for someone to accept or consider ; shows readiness to give or perform an action
2. Makes a proposal or suggestion for acceptance ; indicates a willingness to provide or do something
3. Puts forward an item, idea, or proposal to others ; demonstrates a readiness to give, grant, or carry out an action

Etymology: The verb "offer" is a case where the English word and its nearest French relative diverge. Old English had its own "offrian," meaning to make a sacrifice to a god, and that religious sense came straight down into Middle English. Only later did the word pick up its everyday sense of putting something forward for acceptance, partly reinforced by Old French "offrir," which itself came from the Latin "offerre," meaning to bring before or bring to. That Latin root is built from "ob," meaning "toward" or "before," and "ferre," meaning "to carry." So at its core, offering is simply carrying something toward another person. The sense of a gift or sacrifice laid out for a deity still shows in the word's older use, and the German cognate "Opfer" has the surprising extra meaning of "victim." "Offers" is the third-person singular present form of the verb, and the plural of the noun, which is the sense of a proposal or bid made to someone.

Synonyms: proposals, suggestions, bids, tenders, presentations