ours

O1U1R1S1
UK/ˈaʊəz/UK/ɑːz/US/ˈaʊɚz/US/ɑɹz/

pronoun

Excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive ours)

“You can't take that! It's ours!”

CommonScrabble 4

Meanings

pronounours (plural ours, the possessive case of we, used without a following noun)

alternative obsolete our's

  1. That or those belonging to us.
    1. Excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive ours)

      You can't take that! It's ours!

      2 more examples

      Could we ask you to move, please. These seats are ours.

      This beach is a favourite of ours.

    2. Including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive ours).

      We should ask for it back. After all, it is ours.

      1 more example

      Don't you think that ours looks much nicer than theirs?

  2. That or those belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.

    French food is better than ours.

  3. That or those belonging to people in general.

    As we get older, maintaining an active social life should be a priority of ours.

  4. colloquialThat or those belonging to everyone being addressed.

    Good evening everyone. How are we all tonight? I know I've got my happy face on; have we all got ours on too?

  5. colloquialmay seem patronisingThat or those belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.

    Hello Mrs Miggins. How are we feeling this morning? Oh, what's that bottle of tablets under our chair? Is that ours?

  6. colloquialUsed to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.

    Hey guys, in this video I'll show you how I make my upside-down sponge cake. There are lots of recipes for these, but ours is the best.

  7. informalOur house or home.

    You can stay the night at ours if you like.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishoures
  2. Englishours

From Middle English oures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to our + -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced ourn (from Middle English ouren) in standard speech.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic لَنَا
  • لَنَا (lanā)that which belongs to us
Bulgarian наш
  • наш (naš)that which belongs to us
Chinese Mandarin 我們的 /我们的, 咱們的 /咱们的
  • 我們的 /我们的 (wǒmen de)that which belongs to us
  • 咱們的 /咱们的 (zánmen de)that which belongs to us
  • 咱的 (zán de)that which belongs to us
Czech náš
  • nášthat which belongs to us
Danish vores, vor
  • voresthat which belongs to us
  • vorthat which belongs to us
Dutch het onze, de onze
  • het onzethat which belongs to us
  • de onzethat which belongs to us
  • die van onsthat which belongs to us
Esperanto la nia
  • la niathat which belongs to us
Finnish meidän
  • meidänthat which belongs to us
French le nôtre, la nôtre
  • le nôtrethat which belongs to us
  • la nôtrethat which belongs to us
  • les nôtresthat which belongs to us
German unserer, unsere
  • unsererthat which belongs to us
  • unserethat which belongs to us
  • unseresthat which belongs to us
Greek δικός μας, δικιά μας
  • δικός μας (dikós mas)that which belongs to us
  • δικιά μας (dikiá mas)that which belongs to us
  • δική μας (dikí mas)that which belongs to us
  • δικό μας (dikó mas)that which belongs to us
  • δικοί μας (dikoí mas)that which belongs to us
  • δικές μας (dikés mas)that which belongs to us
  • δικά μας (diká mas)that which belongs to us
Hebrew שלנו
  • שלנו (shelánu)that which belongs to us
Hindi हमारा
  • हमारा (hamārā)that which belongs to us
Hungarian mienk, miénk
  • mienkthat which belongs to us
  • miénkthat which belongs to us
  • mieinkthat which belongs to us
Italian il nostro, la nostra
  • il nostrothat which belongs to us
  • la nostrathat which belongs to us
  • i nostrithat which belongs to us
  • le nostrethat which belongs to us
Japanese 私たちの, 私等の
  • 私たちの (watashitachi no)that which belongs to us
  • 私等の (watashitachi no)that which belongs to us
  • 我らの (warera no)that which belongs to us
  • 我々の (wareware no)that which belongs to us
Latin noster, nostri
  • nosterthat which belongs to us
  • nostrithat which belongs to us
  • nostrumthat which belongs to us
Latvian mūsu, mūsējs
  • mūsuthat which belongs to us
  • mūsējsthat which belongs to us
  • mūsējaisthat which belongs to us
Polish nasz
  • naszthat which belongs to us
Portuguese o nosso
  • o nossothat which belongs to us
Romanian al nostru, a noastră
  • al nostruthat which belongs to us
  • a noastrăthat which belongs to us
  • ai noștrithat which belongs to us
  • ale noastrethat which belongs to us
Russian наш
  • наш (naš)that which belongs to us
Slovak náš
  • nášthat which belongs to us
Spanish lo nuestro
  • lo nuestrothat which belongs to us
Swedish vår, vårt
  • vårthat which belongs to us
  • vårtthat which belongs to us
  • vårathat which belongs to us
Thai ของเรา
  • ของเรา (kŏng rao)that which belongs to us
Turkish bizimki
  • bizimkithat which belongs to us
Ukrainian наш
  • наш (naš)that which belongs to us
Urdu ہمارا
  • ہمارا (hamārā)that which belongs to us
Vietnamese của chúng tôi
  • của chúng tôithat which belongs to us

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ours

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ours. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ours

MLA

“ours.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ours. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ours,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ours.

Source: ours on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.