Wiktionary

wo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "wo"

Translingual edit

Symbol edit

wo

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Wolof.

English edit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms edit

Etymology 1 edit

Variant of who.

Interjection edit

wo

  1. A falconer's call to a hawk.
  2. A call to cause a horse to slow down or stop; whoa.

Etymology 2 edit

Variant of woe.

Noun edit

wo (countable and uncountable, plural wos)

  1. Obsolete spelling of woe
    • 1815, Philip Freneau, A collection of poems, on American affairs and a variety of other subjects, page 82:
      Such feeble arms, to work internal wo!
    • 1809, Hannah More, Coelebs in Search of a Wife:
      But if there was a competition between a sick family and a new broach, the broach was sure to carry the day. This would not have been the case, had they been habituated to visit themselves the abodes of penury and wo.

Etymology 3 edit

From Middle English wough, woh, wouh, from Old English wāh, wāg (“a wall, partition”), from Proto-Germanic *waigaz (“wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, twist”). Cognate with Scots wauch, vauch.

Alternative forms edit

  • waw (Northern England, Scotland)
  • waugh (Scotland)

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

wo (plural wos)

  1. (Northern England, Derbyshire, dialectal) A wall.
    • 1859, Thomas Moore, The Song of Solomon in the Durham Dialect, ii. 9:
      He stands ahint our wo.
    • 1871, Benjamin Brierly, “Weaver of Wellbrook”, in William-Edward-Armitage Axon, editor, Folk-song and Folk-speech of Lancashire, page 53:
      Yo may turn up yor noses at me an' th' owd dame,
      An thrutch us like dogs agen th' wo :
      Bo as lung 's aw con nayger, aw'll ne'er be a beggar,
      So aw care no a cuss for yo o-o'.
    • 1880, Thomas Clarke, Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page 41:
      […] thinkan it ran at him, thrast him up again t' wo, ramm't at him, […]
    • 1884, Jack Robison, Aald Tales ower Agen, section 4:
      Plantit up agen t'wo
    • 1936, G. Halstead Whittaker, A Lancashire Garland of Dialect Prose and Verse, page 221:
      Hoo's pluck of a lion an' faces her foe
      Wi' calm in her e'en an' her beck agen t' wo;
      Hoo's firm i' decision, stonds up for her reets
      An' bravely withstonds o' t' misfortins hoo meets.

Verb edit

wo

  1. (Northern England, dialectal, possibly obsolete) To wall (to build a wall, or build a wall around).
    • 1871, John Richardson, "Cummerland Talk": Being Short Tales and Rhymes, page 101:
      […] “Theer was anudder time, teu, 'at I saw t Park Boggle, in anudder form; bit I wassent seah nart that time, as I was when I'd been fetchen t hogs. I'd been wo-en a gap 'at hed fawn ower o' tudder side o' to Park; […]
    • 1880, Thomas Clarke, Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page 2:
      It's a varra lang while—a caant tell ya hoo lang—sen it wes bilt, lang afooar Borradal fooak woet kucku in, er t' first cooach ran throo Dent, […]

Anagrams edit

Acehnese edit

Verb edit

wo

  1. to go home

References edit

Akan edit

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. thou, you (singular)

Bavarian edit

Alternative forms edit

  • wou (Northern Bavarian)

Etymology edit

With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with German wo, Dutch waar and English where.

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

wo (Central Bavaria)

  1. (interrogative) where (at what place)
    Wo sand'n meine Augnglasln? ― Where are my glasses?
  2. (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)
    I kenn a Gschäft, wo's des håbn. ― I know a shop where they offer that.
    Wo i a ka Sun brauch, is beim Autofoahn. ― Where I don't need the sun is when I'm driving.
  3. (relative) when, that (on which; at which time)
    Des woa de Wochn, wo ma gfeiert håbn. ― That was the week when we celebrated.
  4. (indefinite) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
    I warad gern wo, wo's wärmer is. ― I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.

Pronoun edit

wo (chiefly West Central Bavaria)

  1. (relative) who, whom, which, that
    Des is de Frau, wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.
    Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.
  2. (relative) (inserted after the relative pronouns der, de, des, dem, den, dena, dera
    Des is de Frau, de wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.
    Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, der wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.

Synonyms edit

Conjunction edit

wo

  1. (subordinating) when, if
    Wås håst'n nix gmåcht, wo'st as eh scho länger gwusst håst? ― Why didn't you do anything when you had known about it for a long time?
    Mia soidadn ned spazierngehn, wo's so regnt. ― We shouldn't go for a walk when it's raining like that.

Dongxiang edit

Etymology edit

Compare Bonan wa, perhaps from Proto-Mongolic *bü- (“to be”), see Mongolian бий (bii).

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

wo (defective, copulative)

  1. to be
    1. existential copula
      Eqie guanjinde nie sizi wo, nie basi wo.
      Once upon a time there was a lion and a tiger.
    2. equitive copula
      Bi shi er dui nie bawan, yi dui bawan shi jiu Rejie wo, san dui bawan shi nie halao Remi wo.
      I was the bigshot of the second team, the bigshot of the first team was Rejie and the bigshot of the third team was one ugly Remi.
    3. adjectival copula
      Ene shihoude sumulase hunnerei wo dei.
      If I think [about it] now, it's funny.
  2. in possessive constructions with the possessor in dative
    Ene ghualade nie ghoni wo.
    These two had a sheep.
  3. (after -zhi) forming the progressive tense
    Bi ene agvinni nanbangiede nie jian wafande sauzhi wo.
    I live [am living] in a one bedroom house at the south of the village.

Usage notes edit

  • Usually combined with the Chinese copula shi which is placed between two terms while wo follows the second. Either of them or even both can be omitted but both being present is usually the most common setup.

Synonyms edit

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Ewe edit

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. them
  2. they

German edit

Etymology edit

With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with English where.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /voː/
  • Audio(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -oː

Adverb edit

wo

  1. (interrogative) where (at what place)
    Wo bist du?
    Where are you?
  2. (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)
    Ich kenne einen Laden, wo solche Sachen verkauft werden.
    I know a shop where such things are sold.
  3. (relative, somewhat informal) when, that (on which; at which time)
    Das war der Tag, wo wir uns kennen gelernt haben.
    That was the day when we got to know each other.
  4. (indefinite, colloquial) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
    Synonym: irgendwo
    Ich wär gern wo, wo's wärmer ist.
    I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.

Usage notes edit

  • The temporal use of wo (meaning “when”) is sometimes frowned upon in formal standard German. There is a tendency to use a preposition + relative pronoun instead: Das war der Tag, an dem wir uns kennen gelernt haben. (“That was the day on which we got to know each other.”) Nevertheless, this usage is very common in spoken German and is also widely acceptable in writing, particularly after adverbs, where the only alternative would be the archaic da: Jetzt, wo ich es weiß, wird mir alles klar. (“Now that I know, it all becomes clear to me.”) Compare French où (“where”), the temporal use of which is perfectly standard.

Conjunction edit

wo

  1. (colloquial) when
    Synonym: als
    Wo ich mich umgedreht hab, haut der mir unvermittelt eine rein.
    When I turned around, he just abruptly punched me in the face.

Usage notes edit

  • This usage is exclusively colloquial and would be considered inappropriate in a formal text.

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. (relative, dialectal, nonstandard) who, whom, which, that
    Ich bin der, wo das kann.
    I'm the one who can do that.

Usage notes edit

  • This use is restricted to dialectally influenced vernaculars (Regiolekte) and chiefly to Alemannic areas (Switzerland and south-western Germany). In other regions, this usage is unusual, and scorned by some.

Related terms edit

German Low German edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle Low German wô (“how”), from Old Saxon [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with English how, German wie, Dutch hoe.

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

  • (in some dialects) IPA(key): /vɔu̯/
  • (traditional) IPA(key): [wɔʊ̯]

Adverb edit

wo

  1. how
    Wo vele Daag?
    How many days?

Etymology 2 edit

From Old Saxon hwē, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz. Compare English who, whom, whose.

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. (Low Prussian, relative) who, which
    (Low Prussian) Dat, wo ös... ― that which is...
Usage notes edit

The dative form (also used for the accusative) is woom (wom); the genitive form is woos (wos).

Haitian Creole edit

Etymology edit

From French haut (“high”).

Adjective edit

wo

  1. high
  2. tall

Adverb edit

wo

  1. high

Related terms edit

Hunsrik edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar.

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

wo

  1. (interrogative) where
    Wo bist-du?
    Where are you.
  2. (relative) where
    Ich waarte dich, wo mein Fatter wohnd.
    I will wait for you where my father lives.
  3. (relative) when
    In denne Zeid, wo alles deirer waar.
    In those times when everything was more expensive.

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. (relative) who
    De Mann, wost-du sihst, is mein Fatter.
    The man you see is my father.
    Die Fraa, wo uns gerufd hod, siehd aarich bees aus.
    The woman who called us seems pretty angry.

Further reading edit

Japanese edit

Romanization edit

wo

  1. Rōmaji transcription of を
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ヲ
  3. Rōmaji transcription of うぉ
  4. Rōmaji transcription of ウォ

Lashi edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa. Cognate to Burmese ရွာ (rwa).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

wo

  1. village

References edit

  • Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎[1], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Lower Sorbian edit

Preposition edit

wo

  1. Superseded spelling of wó.

Luxembourgish edit

Verb edit

wo

  1. second-person singular imperative of woen

Mandarin edit

Romanization edit

wo (wo5／wo0, Zhuyin ˙ㄨㄛ)

  1. Nonstandard spelling of wō.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of wǒ.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of wò.

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.

Maquiritari edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

wo (possessed wodü)

  1. great-grandfather
  2. father-in-law (of a woman)
  3. mother’s brother, maternal uncle
  4. father’s sister’s husband

Usage notes edit

This noun has a suppletive first-person possessed form, yawo.

References edit

  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011), “wo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana, Lyon
  • Hall, Katherine Lee (1988), “wo:dü”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volume I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University
  • Hall, Katherine (2007), “wōdɨ”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎[2], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
  • Monterrey, Nalúa Rosa Silva (2012) Hombres de curiara y mujeres de conuco. Etnografía de los indigenas Ye’kwana de Venezuela, Ciudad Bolívar: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, page 62–65, 69, 73

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Pronoun edit

wo

  1. Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)

Etymology 2 edit

Noun edit

wo (plural wos)

  1. Alternative form of woo

Etymology 3 edit

Adjective edit

wo

  1. woeful

Saterland Frisian edit

Etymology edit

From Old Frisian hō, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognates include West Frisian hoe and Dutch hoe.

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

wo

  1. how?
    Wo dääst du dät? ― How do you do that?
  2. how
    Iek weet wo du dät dääst! ― I know how you do that.

References edit

  • Marron C. Fort (2015), “wo”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Xhosa edit

Pronoun edit

-wo

  1. Combining stem of wona.

Yoruba edit

Etymology 1 edit

Clipping of èwo.

Pronunciation edit

Determiner edit

wo

  1. (interrogative) which; what
    Èdè wo ni ẹ gbọ́ jù? ― Which language do you understand the most?
    Fíìmù wo ni kí n wò? ― Which film should I watch?

See also edit

  • èwo (“which; what”)

Etymology 2 edit

From Proto-Yoruboid *ɣò

Alternative forms edit

  • ghò (Ọ̀wọ̀, Ìlàjẹ, Ìkálẹ̀)
  • ò (Èkìtì)

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

wò

  1. to look
    Ẹ jẹ́ ká wò ó ― Let's see
  2. to watch
Derived terms edit

Zulu edit

Pronoun edit

-wo

  1. Combining stem of wona.
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