Emily Dickinson Lexicon

OP'TION, n. [L. optio, from opto, to wish or desire.]

1. The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; as the archbishop's option in collating to a vacant benefice. There is an option left to the United States of America, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible and miserable, as a nation. Washington.
2. The power of wishing; wish.
3. Choice; election; preference. He ought not to complain of his lot; it was his own option. We leave this to your own option.