Why Are Options Called Options?

I am in year nine and at school we have to choose our options soon. The more I find out about it, the more I realise we don't get much of an option as to what subjects we do. I have 6 compulsory subjects (maths, english literature, english language and all three sciences). We also have to do one foreign language, one humanity and one creative subject. This means we only have one other subject that can be anything we want. On top of that, there are some subjects you can't do because of timetable clashes. So I am starting to wonder if the teachers know the meaning of the word option. Please comment with your thoughts and feelings on the topic/own option experiences.