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of·fer (ôfər, ŏfər) Share: Tweet v. of·fered, of·fer·ing, of·fers v.tr. 1. a. To present for acceptance or rejection; proffer: offered me a drink. b. To put forward for consideration; propose: offer an opinion. c. To present in order to meet a need or satisfy a requirement: offered new statistics in order to facilitate the decision-making process. d. To present as an act of worship: offer a prayer. e. To propose as payment; bid: offered only half what I was asking for the car. 2. a. To make available; afford: The situation offers us the opportunity to learn more. b. To present for sale: Those boots are being offered at half price. c. To provide; furnish: a hotel that offers conference facilities. 3. To exhibit readiness or desire (to do something); volunteer: offered to carry the packages. 4. To engage in; put up: partisans who offered strong resistance to the invaders. 5. To threaten: offered to leave without them if they didn't hurry. 6. To produce or introduce on the stage: The repertory group is offering two new plays this season. v.intr. 1. To present an offering in worship or devotion. 2. To make an offer or proposal, especially of marriage. 3. To present itself: "This plan was dropped, because of its risk, and because a better offered" (T.E. Lawrence). 4. Baseball To swing at a pitch. Used of a batter. n. 1. The act of offering: an offer of assistance. 2. Something, such as a suggestion, proposal, bid, or recommendation, that is offered: Did you accept his offer for the car? 3. Law A proposal that if accepted constitutes a legally binding contract. 4. The condition of being offered, especially for sale: thousands of bushels of wheat on offer. [Middle English offren, from Old English offrian, to present in worship, and from Old French offrir, to propose, present, both from Latin offerre, to present, offer : ob-, to; see OB- + ferre, to bring; see bher-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] offer·er, offer·or n.

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# Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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