Wiktionary

wo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "wo"
Languages (23)
Translingual • English
Acehnese • Akan • Bavarian • Dongxiang • Ewe • German • German Low German • Haitian Creole • Hunsrik • Isoko • Japanese • Lower Sorbian • Luxembourgish • Mandarin • Middle English • Old English • Saterland Frisian • Xhosa • Ye'kwana • Yoruba • Zulu
Page categories

Translingual

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Symbol

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wo

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

See also

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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Variant of who.

Interjection

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wo

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

Etymology 2

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Variant of woe.

Noun

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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!

Etymology 3

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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

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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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

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Acehnese

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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wo

  1. to go home

References

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Akan

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Pronoun

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wo

  1. thou, you (singular)

Bavarian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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 *kʷís, whence also wer. Cognate with German wo, Dutch waar and English where.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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wo (Central Bavarian)

  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

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wo (chiefly West Central Bavarian)

  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

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Conjunction

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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

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Verb

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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

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  • 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

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Ewe

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Pronoun

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wo

  1. them
  2. they

German

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Etymology

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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 *kʷís, whence also wer. Cognate with English where.

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

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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

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  • 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

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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

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

Pronoun

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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

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  • 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.
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German Low German

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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

Adverb

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wo

  1. how
    Wo vele Daag?
    How many days?

Etymology 2

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

Pronoun

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wo

  1. (Low Prussian, relative) who, which
    (Low Prussian) Dat, wo ös... ― that which is...
Usage notes
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The dative form (also used for the accusative) is woom (wom); the genitive form is woos (wos).

Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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From French haut (“high”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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wo

  1. high
  2. tall

Adverb

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wo

  1. high
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Hunsrik

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Alternative forms

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  • woo (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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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

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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

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Isoko

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Verb

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wo

  1. Spelling of vbo before the 1992 orthographic update.

Japanese

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Romanization

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wo

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

Lower Sorbian

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Preposition

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wo

  1. Superseded spelling of wó.

Luxembourgish

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Verb

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wo

  1. second-person singular imperative of woen

Mandarin

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Romanization

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wo (wo5 / wo0, Zhuyin ˙ㄨㄛ)

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

Usage notes

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  • 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.

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Pronoun

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wo

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

Etymology 2

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Noun

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wo (plural wos)

  1. Alternative form of woo

Etymology 3

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Adjective

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wo

  1. woeful

Old English

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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wō

  1. inflection of wōh:
    1. strong accusative feminine singular
    2. strong instrumental masculine/neuter singular
    3. strong nominative/accusative masculine/feminine plural
    4. weak nominative masculine/feminine/neuter singular
    5. weak accusative neuter singular

Noun

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wō

  1. dative singular of wōh

Saterland Frisian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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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

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

Xhosa

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Pronoun

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-wo

  1. Combining stem of wona.

Ye'kwana

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Variant orthographies
ALIV wo
Brazilian standard wo
New Tribes wo

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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

References

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  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “wo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎[1], Lyon
  • Hall, Katherine Lee (1988) “wo:dü”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes 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, pages 62–65, 69, 73: “woodü, wodüümö”

Yoruba

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Etymology 1

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Clipping of èwo.

Pronunciation

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Determiner

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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

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  • èwo (“which; what”)

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Yoruboid *ɣò

Pronunciation

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Verb

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wò

  1. to look
    Ẹ jẹ́ ká wò ó ― Let's see
  2. to watch
Synonyms
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Yoruba varieties and languages: wò (“to look, watch”)
view map; edit data
Language familyVariety groupVariety/languageSubdialectLocationWords
Proto-Itsekiri-SEYSoutheast YorubaÀoÌdóàníyò
Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè)ghò
Ìjẹ̀búÌjẹ̀búÌjẹ̀bú Òdewò
Rẹ́mọẸ̀pẹ́ghò
Ìkòròdúghò
Ṣágámùghò
Ìkálẹ̀ (Ùkálẹ̀)Òkìtìpupaghò
Ìlàjẹ (Ùlàjẹ)Mahinghò
OǹdóOǹdóghò
Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀)ghò
UsẹnUsẹnghò
ÌtsẹkírìÌwẹrẹghò
OlùkùmiUgbódùghò
Proto-YorubaCentral YorubaÈkìtìÈkìtìÀdó Èkìtìò
Àkúrẹ́Àkúrẹ́ò
Mọ̀bàỌ̀tùn Èkìtìò
Ifẹ̀ (Ufẹ̀)Ilé Ifẹ̀ (Ulé Ufẹ̀)wò
Northwest YorubaÀwórìÈbúté Mẹ́tàwò
Ẹ̀gbáAbẹ́òkútawò
ÈkóÈkówò
ÌbàdànÌbàdànwò
ÌbàràpáIgbó Òràwò
Ìbọ̀lọ́Òṣogbo (Òsogbo)wò
ÌlọrinÌlọrinwò
OǹkóÒtùwò
Ìwéré Iléwò
Òkèhòwò
Ìsẹ́yìnwò
Ṣakíwò
Tedéwò
Ìgbẹ́tìwò
Ọ̀yọ́Ọ̀yọ́wò
Standard YorùbáNàìjíríàwò
Bɛ̀nɛ̀wò
Northeast Yoruba/OkunÌyàgbàÌsánlú Ìtẹ̀dógwò
OwéKabbawò
Ede languages/Southwest YorubaIfɛ̀Akpáréwò
Atakpamɛwò
Tchetti (Tsɛti, Cɛti)wò
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.
Derived terms
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Zulu

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Pronoun

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-wo

  1. Combining stem of wona.
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