oppure Italian · revision 38055

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=before 1347, Bartolomeo da San Concordio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /opˈpu.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|it|o|pure]], with the consonant doubled after ⟨o⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI) The conjunction [[o]] continues [[inh|la|aut|t=or]], which survives in a popular form in all the Romance languages.^(LEI|3, 2568) [[lmo|opur]] and [[pms|opura]] are formed in the same way.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Bartolomeo da San Concordio, who died in 1347, with the disjunctive sense “or, or instead”: “Se io degli studi delle parti … volessi dire singularmente oppure in somma” (if I wished to speak of the parties' pursuits one by one or all together).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For a long time the word was written either as one word or as two, ''o pure''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) Tommaseo advised writing it apart when ''pure'' means “simply, only” and joined when it is only an intensive, as in ''ovvero'', and observed that in speech ''oppure'' was by then more common than ''ovvero'' and more consistently disjunctive.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “otherwise, or else” is recorded in Moravia in 1957.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1328 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses ''oppure''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1861–1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini discusses writing it as one word or two.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ * 1957 – Moravia uses it for “otherwise”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|or]], or else, a stronger form of [[o]] that marks an alternative or a contrast: ''Prendi il treno oppure la corriera?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|otherwise]], or else, if not: ''Sbrigati, oppure perderai l'autobus.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # At the start of a sentence, introducing another possibility or suggestion: ''Oppure potremmo restare a casa.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pure]]

+ * [[eppure]]

+ * [[o]]

+ * [[ovvero]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ti piace oppure no?'' shows the common pairing with ''no'' in questions.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}