ou
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ou (plural ous)
- A probably extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, Psittirostra psittacea.
Translations edit
Further reading edit
- Psittirostra psittacea on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Psittirostra psittacea on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Psittirostra psittacea on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Etymology 2 edit
From Afrikaans ou, probably from Dutch ouwe (“old man”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
- (South Africa, colloquial) A fellow, guy, bloke. [from 20th c.]
- 1962, Jeremy Taylor (lyrics and music), “Ag Pleez Deddy”:
- Ag pleez Deddy won't you take us to the wrestling
We wanna see an ou called Sky High Lee
- 1975, Sheila Roberts, Outside Life's Feast: Short Stories, Johannesburg: Ad. Donker, →ISBN, page 27:
- I couldn't care that the ous call me rooinek and sometimes whiterat because of my hair and face. At least I am not a hairyback I tell them.
- 1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 292:
- “They're the same good and solid ous they'd been before. Because they managed not to think.”
Anagrams edit
Afrikaans edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Probably from ouwe, from Dutch oude
Noun edit
ou (plural ouens, diminutive outjie)
- an old fellow, guy, bloke
- Synonym: kêrel
Etymology 2 edit
Adjective edit
ou
- attributive form of oud
Aneme Wake edit
Noun edit
ou
Aromanian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum. Compare Romanian ou.
Noun edit
ou n (plural oauã, definite singular oulu, definite plural oauãli)
Derived terms edit
- oauã / ou
Etymology 2 edit
Verb based on etymology 1.
Verb edit
ou first-singular present indicative (past participle uoatã)
- Alternative form of oauã to lay an egg (like a hen)
Related terms edit
Bonggi edit
Pronoun edit
ou
References edit
- Michael Boutin, A role and reference grammar account of Bonggi adversative constructions, A Mosaic of languages and cultures: studies celebrating the career of Karl J. Franklin (2010)
Catalan edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum, from Classical Latin ōvum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ou m (plural ous)
References edit
- “ou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “ou”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “ou” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “ou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
ou
Etymology 3 edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ou
Estonian edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Interjection edit
ou
- (colloquial) oi!, hey!, used for calling out to someone
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French ou, from Latin aut.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ou
- or
- 2011, Christian Depover, Thierry Karsenti, Enseigner avec les technologies: Favoriser les apprentissages, développer des compétences, PUQ, →ISBN:
- La baladodiffusion est ainsi utilisée comme outil à potentiel cognitif, parce qu’elle permet, relativement facilement, de diffuser un contenu audio ou vidéo qui peut, par la suite, être écouté ou vu à tout moment par l’apprenant.
- Therefore, podcasting is used as a tool for cognitive potential, because it allows for the relatively easy distribution of audio or video content, which, as a result, can be listened to or watched at any moment by the learner.
- either...or
- Ou il est fou ou il est bête.
- Either he's mad or he's stupid.
Derived terms edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Picoche, Jacqueline with Jean-Claude Rolland (2009) “ou”, in Dictionnaire étymologique du français (in French), Paris: Dictionnaires Le Robert
Further reading edit
- “ou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese ou, from Latin aut.
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ou
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
ou!
- whoa! (order for cattle)
- Synonym: xo
- oh! (vocative)
- 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:
- Ôu mèu Crego? Seica qués,
que eu vote a lengoa â pastàr?
Catao ben, e despois non
che pese, ò que ágora fás.
Se contra toda concencia
pensache de min tàn màl,
e estou quixòsa, ¿por que
non me has ti de aloumiñar?- Oh, my clergyman? Perchance you want
that I let my tongue free range?
Watch it carefully, or either don't you later
regret what you do now.
If against all conscience
You thought so badly of me
And I'm cranky, why
wouldn't you cherish me?
- Oh, my clergyman? Perchance you want
References edit
- “ou” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “ou” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “ou” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “ou” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Haitian Creole edit
Etymology edit
Possibly from French vous (“you”)
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ou (upper case Ou)
- A letter of the Haitian Creole alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Pronoun edit
ou (contracted form w)
- you (singular)
Hawaiian edit
Pronoun edit
ou
Usage notes edit
- Used after negatives, numbers, locative nouns, certain prepositions, and after nouns preceded by an article or a k-determiner.
Related terms edit
Italian edit
Interjection edit
ou
Jamaican Creole edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
ou
- how
- ou iz it?
- how is it?
- (literally, “How are things?/How are you?”)
- ou kom?
- how come?
- 2019, “Recognize Patois As An Official Language; Says UWI”, in JamaicanInsider.com[1]:
- Juu tu ou Jamiekan a di wan langwij we bring evri Jamiekan tugeda;
- Due to how Jamaican is the language that brings all Jamaicans together;
Japanese edit
Romanization edit
ou
Mandarin edit
Romanization edit
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of cmn, 嘔/呕
Romanization edit
ou
- Nonstandard spelling of ōu.
- Nonstandard spelling of óu.
- Nonstandard spelling of ǒu.
- Nonstandard spelling of òu.
Usage notes edit
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Mauritian Creole edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Probably from French vous; compare Haitian Creole ou.
Pronoun edit
ou (informal to)
- you (second-person singular formal personal pronoun)
See also edit
Middle English edit
Pronoun edit
ou
- Alternative form of yow
Middle French edit
Preposition edit
ou
- within
- 15th century, Chronique de Charles VII roi de France par Jean Chartier, Tomé II, edited by Vallet de Viriville. Paris: P. Jannet, 1858, page 18.
- Discord et division ou royaulme de Castile.
- Discord and division within the kingdom of Castile
- 15th century, Chronique de Charles VII roi de France par Jean Chartier, Tomé II, edited by Vallet de Viriville. Paris: P. Jannet, 1858, page 18.
Norman edit
Etymology edit
From Old French ou, from Latin aut.
Conjunction edit
ou
Old French edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Conjunction edit
ou
Descendants edit
- French: ou
Etymology 2 edit
Adverb edit
ou
- where
- 11th century, La Vie de Saint Alexis, BNF manuscript 19525
- Dona as povres ou qu'il les pout trouver
- He gave to the poor wherever he could find them
- 11th century, La Vie de Saint Alexis, BNF manuscript 19525
Descendants edit
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese ou, from Latin aut.
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ou
- or (connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc. each of which could make a passage true)
- Escolhe a opção um ou a opção dois.
- Choose option one or option two.
- or (connects two equivalent names)
- Synonym: também
- Mianmar, ou Birmânia, fica na Ásia.
- Myanmar, or Burma, is located in Asia.
Quotations edit
For quotations using this term, see Citations:ou.
Descendants edit
- Macanese: ó
Conjunction edit
ou … ou
Noun edit
ou m (plural ous)
- (logic) inclusive or (connective which yields true when at least one of the predicates is true)
Quotations edit
For quotations using this term, see Citations:ou.
Derived terms edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ou n (plural ouă)
Declension edit
Related terms edit
Sardinian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ou m (plural ovos) (Logudorese, Campidanese)
References edit
- AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1132: “l'uovo guasto” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
- Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “óvu”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg
Saterland Frisian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old Frisian of, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab. Cognates include West Frisian ôf and German ab.
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
ou (neuter or distal adverb deerou, proximal adverb hierou, interrogative adverb wierou)
Adjective edit
ou (masculine ouen, feminine, plural or definite oue)
References edit
Sicilian edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
ou m (plural ova)
- Alternative form of ovu
Etymology 2 edit
Onomatopoeic.
Interjection edit
ou
- an exclamation to get attention.
- Ou, talè cca
- Hey, look at this!
- Ou! Ascuta!
- Hey! Listen!
- a protest or reprimand.
- Ou! Tàgghiala!
- Hey! Stop that!
- an expression of surprise.
- Ou! Quant'avìa ca nun ti vidìa!
- Hey! How long had I not seen you!
- an informal greeting, similar to ciau.
- Ou! Comu jemu?
- Hey! How's it going?
Synonyms edit
- (exclamation to get attention): oi, yo; see also Thesaurus:hey
- (expression of surprise): meh, zu, pui, ippi; see also Thesaurus:wow
- (for repetition or explanation): eh, ah
- (informal greeting): ciau; see also Thesaurus:ciau
Suena edit
Noun edit
ou
References edit
- Transnewguinea.org, citing McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), Smallhorn (2011) and Wilson (1969)
Tongan edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ou
- Alternative form of au
Zia edit
Noun edit
ou
References edit
- Transnewguinea.org, citing McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), Smallhorn (2011) and Wilson (1969)