-o

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian) IPA^(key): /əʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /oʊ/
• Homophones: o, owe, oh

Etymology 1

Perhaps from a special use of the interjection O, oh; and/or perhaps from o (“one”), from Middle English o, oo, variant of a, on, oon, an (“one”). See one and -y.

Alternative forms

• -oh

Suffix

-o (plural -os or -oes)

1. A colloquializing suffix, typically appended to names, abbreviations of long words, or substantive uses of adjectives.

   ‎kid + ‎-o → ‎kiddo

   ‎ugly + ‎-o → ‎uggo

   • 1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:

     Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

Usage notes

-o generally does not change the meaning of the word or name but only makes it more colloquial, as with cheapo and Jacko. It is often appended to clipped or elided forms of longer words, as with ambo and parmo. Occasionally, the terminal consonant of the clipped form is doubled for clarity of meaning or pronunciation, as with uggo and doggo. It sometimes does change the meaning of words, usually by being applied to adjectives to indicate a person with a pronounced trait, as with weirdo (“weird person”), or to nouns used metonymously to indicate a person with a pronounced connection to the other object, as with wino (“poor or vagrant alcoholic”). Especially in American English, some uses of this suffix are understood as dated slang, as with bucko and neato. The suffix is most frequently and widely encountered in Australian English, which has additional uses (such as rego for registration and nasho for national service) that are never or only extremely rarely encountered in other dialects.

Its meaning is very similar to some uses of -y and its use is particularly common where use of -y might cause misunderstanding, as with randy and rando, journey and journo, whiny and wino.

Derived terms

See also

• -ie, -y

Etymology 2

From many Spanish or Italian words that end in o. This ending in such Spanish or Italian words generally derives from -um, the accusative singular inflectional ending for masculine and neuter nouns in Latin.

Suffix

-o

1. (humorous) Converts certain words to faux Italian or Spanish. Can be used with Spanish el for expressions such as el stinko.

   no problemo

Derived terms

• problemo
• stinko
• enduro
• aggro

Etymology 3

Back-formation from typo.

Suffix

-o (plural -os)

1. Added to verb stems to create a noun describing an error relating to the action described by the verb.

Derived terms

• clicko
• scanno
• speako
• spello
• thinko
• writo

Derived terms

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ˈo/,

Suffix

-ó

1. Used to form feminine nouns from verbs.

Derived terms

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Albanian

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ/

Suffix

-ó

1. Creates a second-person singular active imperative verb form from a non-verb.

   ‎áfër (“close, nearby”, adverb/preposition) + ‎-o → ‎afró! (“bring closer”)

   ‎báraz (“equal”, adverb) + ‎-o → ‎barazó! (“eqalize!”)

   ‎kráhas (“arm in arm, side by side”, adverb/preposition) + ‎-o → ‎krahasó! (“compare!”)

   ‎pástër (“clean”, adjective/adverb) + ‎-o → ‎pastró! (“cleanse”)

   ‎zhúrmë (“noise”, noun) + ‎-o → ‎zhurmó! (“make a noise, scream!”)

Etymology 2

Particle

-o

2. Alternative form of o

Esperanto

Etymology

• From the masculine singular of the Romance languages, such as Italian (amico); perhaps also the neuter singular common to all Slavic languages (окно (okno))
• Perhaps from the above (Italian quello, Russian то (to))
• Possibly derived from Greek second declension syllabic nucleus -o, from which plural -oj in greek is likely also derived.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /o/

Suffix

-o

1. Nominal suffix. Most Esperanto nouns end in -o. (A few nouns end in -aŭ, and with some writers some feminine names end in -a.)
   • amiko (“friend”)
   • patro (“father”)
   • vorto (“word”)
2. -thing. (correlative object ending.)
   • kio (“what?, what”)
   • tio (“that”)
   • ĉio (“everything”)
   • io (“something”)
   • nenio (“nothing”)

Finnish

Etymology

Conflated:

• from Proto-Finnic *-o (forms action/result nouns), from Proto-Uralic *-w (as applied to stems ending in -a).
• from Proto-Finnic *-oi (variant/diminutive), from Proto-Uralic *-j (diminutive ending); the -o- is a re-extraction from the suffix being applied to stems ending in -a which was labialized by -j.

Suffix

-o (front vowel harmony variant -ö, linguistic notation -O)

1. Forms result or action nouns from verbs.

   ‎huutaa (“shout”) + ‎-o → ‎huuto (“shout”)

   ‎keittää (“boil, cook”) + ‎-o → ‎keitto (“cooking; soup”)

   ‎nähdä (“see”) + ‎-o → ‎näkö (“vision”) (ability to see)

2. Forms variants or diminutives from a few nominal roots.

   ‎hilla (“cloudberry”) + ‎-o → ‎hillo (“jam”)

   ‎lehti (“leaf”) + ‎-o → ‎lehto (“grove”)

   ‎tasa (“level”) + ‎-o → ‎taso (“plane”)

Usage notes

• Used deverbally especially with those verbs whose citation form ends with -aa or -ää. In stems with e or i, the suffix has its back vowel form, -o.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• -u
• -uu

French

Etymology

Analogically extended from various clippings with etymological o, such as vélo, resto < vélocipède, restaurant. Its pronunciation perhaps had input from -aud.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o/

Suffix

-o (informal)

1. Added to a clipped noun or adjective

Derived terms

See also

• hosto

Garo

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Suffix

-o

1. (inflectional suffix) forms the locative case

Synonyms

• -no (“forms locative”)

See also

• -na (“forms dative”)
• -ko (“forms accusative”)
• -chi (“forms instrumental”)
• -ni (“forms genitive”)

Gothic

Romanization

-o

1. Romanization of -𐍉

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto -o, from Romance languages.

Suffix

-o

1. Nominal suffix. All Ido nouns end in -o.

Italian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin -us, from Proto-Indo-European *-os (creates action nouns from verbs).

Suffix

-o m (noun-forming suffix, plural -i)

2. (productive) used with a stem to form a masculine singular noun, usually a deverbal

   Synonym: -a

Derived terms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Suffix

-o (past participle-forming suffix, feminine -a, masculine plural -i, feminine plural -e)

2. (not productive) used with a verb stem to form a past participle

Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Latin -ō.

Suffix

-o (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. (productive) used with a stem to form the first-person singular present of regular are and ere verbs and those -ire verbs that do not take -isc-

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /oː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /o/,

Etymology 1

See Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂- (with nominative ō made common to all cases).

Suffix

-ō m (genitive -ōnis); third declension

1. Used to form masculine nouns with various meanings:
   1. forms agent nouns, positive and especially negative nicknames and other personal designations, especially in colloquial language.

      combibere (“to drink together”) → combibō (“drinking buddy”)

      vāpulāre (“to get beaten”) → vāpulō (“who gets frequently flogged”)

      ?cōci- → cōciō (“broker”)

      centuria (“century”) → centuriō (“centurion”)

      mūlus (“mule”) → mūliō (“muleteer”)

      Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “dull, sluggish”) → mōriō (“idiot”)

   2. also forms names, especially cognomina.

      aquila (“eagle”) → Aquilō (“the North wind”)

      incubāre (“to lie on top”) → Incubō (“a spirit that watches over buried treasures”)

      cūria (“curia”) → Cūriō

      cicer (“chickpea”) → Cicerō

      vārus (“bow-legged”) → Varrō

      catus (“clever, shrewd”) → Catō

      conger (“sea-eel”) → Congriō (“name of a cook in Plautus”)

   3. (Late Latin) also used as an ending for some inanimate nouns.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• (forms masculine agent nouns): -a¹, -ārius, -ātor

Derived terms

Descendants

• French: -on
  • → English: -oon
• Italian: -one
• Portuguese: -ão
• Romanian: -oi, -oni
• Sicilian: -uni, -una
• Spanish: -ón

References

• “-ō¹” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Italic *-ōd, an ablative suffix, derived from Proto-Indo-European *-éad.

Suffix

-ō (comparative -ius, superlative -issimō)

1. forms adverbs

   prīmus + -ō → prīmō

   tūtus + -ō → tūtō

Derived terms

References

• “-ō²” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Italic *-āō, from the following sources:

• Denominative verbs with *-eh₂-yé-ti, in which the first person singular ends in *-eh₂-yóh₂ > intermediate phase **-ājō with accent shift > Proto-Italic *-āō (e.g., laudō, dōnō, pugnō, cūrō).
• Verbs from roots in *-h₁- (e.g. flō).
• Verbs from roots in *-h₂- (e.g. for, nō, hiō, domō, iuvō).
• Verbs from roots in *-h₃- (e.g. dō, lavō, arō).
• In one exceptional case, by sound laws acting on *-h₂ + stative suffix *-éh₁-ye-ti, whence *-h₂-éh₁-ye-ti. This case is the verb stō: *sth₂-éh₁-ye-ti > *staēō > stō).

Cognates of the whole first conjugation in the present in Latin and Proto-Italic include Proto-Germanic *-ōną (referring to the whole conjugation in which the infinitive is *-ōną), Ancient Greek -άω (-áō, contracted verb), -अयति (-ayati) (for the causative in Sanskrit), Proto-Celtic *-āti and Proto-Balto-Slavic *-ā́ˀtei (whence the infinite Proto-Slavic *-ati, referring again to the whole conjugation).

Alternative forms

• *-aēō (in *staēō)

Suffix

-ō (present infinitive -āre, perfect active -āvī, supine -ātum); first conjugation

2. suffixed to nouns or adjectives — originally a-stem nouns, but later nouns with other stems — forms regular first-conjugation verbs

   cūra + -ō → cūrō

   dōnum + -ō → dōnō

   laus (stem: laud-) + -ō → laudō

   multa + -ō → multō

   nūndinae + -or → nūndinor (deponent)

4. suffixed to third-conjugation verbs in composition, forms regular first-conjugation verbs

   com- + pellō (pres. act. inf.: pellere) + -ō → compellō (pres. act. inf.: compellāre)

   prō- + flīgō (pres. act. inf.: flīgere) + -ō → prōflīgō (pres. act. inf.: prōflīgāre)

Conjugation

¹At least one use of the archaic "sigmatic future" and "sigmatic aorist" tenses is attested, which are used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, while the sigmatic aorist expresses a possible desire ("might want to"). It is also attested as having a rare sigmatic future passive indicative form ("will have been"), which is not attested in the plural for any verb.
²The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.
³At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
• “-ō³” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 4

From Proto-Italic *-ō, from at least two sources:

1. Proto-Indo-European thematic *-e-ti in which the first person singular ends in *-oh₂ (e.g., agō < *h₂éǵeti; coquō < pékʷeti).
2. Proto-Indo-European athematic *-ti, in which the first person singular ends in *-mi (e.g., ducō < *déwkti; edō < *h₁édti; linquō < *linékʷti; discō < *di-dḱ-ské-ti).
3. In compounds such as compellō, appellō and expellō, thus compound verbs containing pellō (> Proto-Italic *pelnō/pelnaō), Schrijver (1991) proposes there was thematization to *-ăi̯e-/-o- of the simplex verb's athematic nasal present stem in *-nă- from original *-nH-. If the second reconstructed version is correct, then Latin *-ō < Proto-Italic *-aō in this exceptional case.

Alternative forms

• -iō

Suffix

-ō (present infinitive -ere, perfect active -ī, supine -um); third conjugation

1. forms regular third-conjugation verbs

Conjugation

¹At least one use of the archaic "sigmatic future" and "sigmatic aorist" tenses is attested, which are used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, while the sigmatic aorist expresses a possible desire ("might want to"). It is also attested as having a rare sigmatic future passive indicative form ("will have been"), which is not attested in the plural for any verb.

Etymology 5

From Old Latin -ōi, from Proto-Italic *-ōi, from Proto-Indo-European *-oey.

Suffix

-ō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of -us

Etymology 6

Borrowed from Paleo-Balkan. Compare Albanian -ónjë, Aromanian -oanje, -oanji, -onje and Romanian -oaie, all forming feminine equivalent of nouns.

Suffix

-ō f (genitive -ōnis); third declension

1. form feminine equivalents of given names of central Dalmatia

   ‎Aplis m + ‎-o → ‎Aplo f

   ‎Baezus m + ‎-o → ‎Baezo f

   ‎Dasant- m + ‎-o → ‎Dasto f

   ‎Ditus m + ‎-o → ‎Dito f

   ‎Paius m + ‎-o → ‎Paio f

   ‎Vendes m + ‎-o → ‎Vendo f

References

• Katičić, Radoslav (1976) Ancient Languages of the Balkans, page 180

See also

• Category:Latin terms suffixed with -o

Lithuanian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *-ā; compare Latvian -a, Proto-Slavic *-a (“id”). From the Proto-Indo-European thematic masculine ablative ending *-ōd, with regular Balto-Slavic loss of final d. Compare Sanskrit -आत् (-āt), Latin -ō and Ancient Greek ὄπ-ω (óp-ō, “whence”). In Balto-Slavic, the genitive merged with the ablative. The original genitive was retained, however, in West Baltic; compare Old Prussian -as, presumably from Proto-Indo-European *-os; compare Hittite 𒀸 (-as).

Suffix

-õ

1. Used to form genitive singulars of masculine a-stem nouns.
2. Used to form genitive singulars of masculine a-stem adjectives.

Etymology 2

Suffix

-o

1. Used to form third person present tense forms in third declension verbs.
2. Used to form third person past tense forms in first declension verbs.

Etymology 3

Suffix

-õ

1. An illative suffix.

   ‎namas + ‎-o → ‎namo

Synonyms

• -op
• -on, -yn, -ėn

Lower Sorbian

Suffix

-o

1. -ly (used to turn an adjective into an adverb of manner)

Synonyms

• -je

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Suffix

-o

1. Used to make plural indefinite and definite forms for some neuter nouns
2. (non-standard since 1917) Used to make singular definite form for some weak feminine nouns
3. (archaic)(nonstandard) Used to mark plural form for strong verbs in past tense

Old Dutch

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *-ō, from Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

2. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: -e

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *-jō, from Proto-Germanic *-jô.

Suffix

-o

2. Forms agent nouns from verbs.

Derived terms

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ō.

Suffix

-o

1. a suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of verbs

   ‎amar (“to love”) + ‎-o → ‎amo (“ love”)

   ‎querer (“to want”) + ‎-o → ‎quero (“ want”)

Descendants

• Galician: -o
• Portuguese: -o

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Descendants

• Middle High German: -e

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate to Old English -a, in ǣta (“eater”), Old Norse -i, Gothic -𐌰 (-a), in 𐌽𐌿𐍄𐌰 (nuta, “fisher”). In some cases, the root appears in the zero-grade as in boto (from biotan).

Suffix

-o m

1. used to form masculine agents from verbs

   ‎geban (“to give”) + ‎-o → ‎gëbo (“giver”)

   ‎sprehhan (“to speak”) + ‎-o → ‎sprëhho (“speaker”)

   ‎biotan (“to offer, send, command”) + ‎-o → ‎boto (“messenger”)

   ‎ziohan (“to pull, lead”) + ‎-o → ‎herizogo (“army leader”)

   ‎sagēn (“to say”) + ‎-o → ‎fora-sago (“prophet”)

Declension

Most nouns with this suffix follow the n-declension, like hano (“cock”), namo (“name”), gomo (“man”).

Descendants

• Middle High German: -e
  • German: -e

In Middle High German, the suffix is replaced by -er (whence German -er), as in Middle High German gëber instead of Old High German gëbo. Only a few German words still have a final -e that results from Old High German -o.

Old Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /ɔ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ɔ/

Suffix

-o

1. forms adverbs from adjectives

   ‎barzy + ‎-o → ‎barzo

Derived terms

See also

• -ie

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate to Old English -a, in ǣta (“eater”), Gothic -𐌰 (-a), in 𐌽𐌿𐍄𐌰 (nuta, “fisher”).

Suffix

-o m

1. used to form masculine agents from verbs and nouns

   ‎gevan (“to give”) + ‎-o → ‎gevo (“giver”)

   ‎beddi (“bed”) + ‎-o → ‎gibeddio (“bedfellow”)

Descendants

• Middle Low German: -e

Polish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Doublet of -um.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ
• Syllabification: o
• Homophone: o

Suffix

-o

1. forms adverbs from adjectives

   ‎beztroski + ‎-o → ‎beztrosko

2. forms diminutives, softening the previous consonant

   ‎dziad + ‎-o → ‎dziadzio

Derived terms

See also

• -ie

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -o, from Latin -um.

Suffix

-o

1. forms masculine singular nouns and adjectives

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -o, from Latin -ō, -eō, -iō. Compare Galician and Spanish -o.

Suffix

-o

1. a suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of -ar

   ‎amar (“to love”) + ‎-o → ‎amo (“ love”)

2. a suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of -er

   ‎comer (“to eat”) + ‎-o → ‎como (“ eat”)

3. a suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of -ir

   ‎unir (“to unite”) + ‎-o → ‎uno (“ unite”)

Romani

Suffix

-o

1. Forms the nominative singular of vocalic oikoclitic masculine nouns
2. Forms the nominative masculine singular of vocalic oikoclitic adjectives
3. Attaches to the perfective stem to form the third-person singular masculine past tense of intransitive verbs

Romanian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic.

Suffix

-o

1. Vocative singular (feminine)

   ‎mamă (“mother”) + ‎-o → ‎mamo

   ‎focă (“seal”) + ‎-o → ‎foco

Usage notes

This form of the vocative is informal, especially when referring to a person. The nominative/accusative ending is preferred.

Related terms

• -e (vocative used for masculine and neuter adjectives or nouns)

Spanish

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin -um, accusative of -us.

Suffix

-o m (noun-forming suffix, plural -os)

1. Used with a stem to form a masculine singular noun

   ‎azafata (“female flight-attendant”) + ‎-o → ‎azafato (“male flight-attendant”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin -ō.

Suffix

-o (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of verbs

Swahili

Etymology 1

Suffix

-o

1. suffix used in nominal forms of verbs in the absence of a more specific suffix (such as -ji), in conjunction with a noun class prefix

   ‎-penda (“to love”) + ‎-o → ‎upendo (“love”)

   ‎-enda (“to go”) + ‎-o → ‎mwendo (“motion”)

2. wa class_(II), m class_(III), and u class_(XI) relative marker

See also

Etymology 2

Suffix

-o

1. nonce suffix added for rhyming and scansion purposes
   • (Can we date this quote?), K. Amri Abedi, Ukitaka moyo wangu:

     Ukitaka moyo wangu, ni tayari kukupao

     If you want my heart, I am ready to give it to you

Swedish

Etymology 1

• Possibly from Tavringer Romani -o, a masculine ending for nouns, cf. buro (“non-Traveller, farmer”), bölo (“bull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊ/
• When combined the stress is always on the first syllable.

Suffix

-o

1. (colloquial) Combines with an (often clipped) word to create a noun referring to a person with a related property. Gives a familiar and to some extent diminutive nuance.

   ‎fylla (“drunkenness”) + ‎-o → ‎fyllo (“drunkard”)

   ‎fet (“fat”) + ‎-o → ‎fetto (“a fatty”)

   ‎snygg (“handsome”) + ‎-o → ‎snyggo (“handsome (noun)”)

   ‎puckad (“stupid”) + ‎-o → ‎pucko (“a stupid person”)

   ‎lycklig (“lucky, fortunate”) + ‎-o → ‎lyllo (“a fortunate person”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Swedish -u, -o, from Old Norse -u.

Suffix

-o

1. (archaic) In the indicative mood, conjugates verbs into the plural number.

   de äro

   they are

   vi sutto

   we sat

See also

• äro

Volapük

Suffix

-o

1. adverb ending
2. -wise (in the matter of; with regard to)

Derived terms

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ/

Etymology 1

Suffix

-o

1. used to form pet names

   ‎Dai + ‎-o → ‎Deio

   ‎Gwen + ‎-o → ‎Gwenno

   ‎Iorwerth + ‎-o → ‎Iolo

Etymology 2

Suffix

-o

1. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person singular present subjunctive

Etymology 3

From Middle Welsh -aw, from Proto-Brythonic *-ọβ̃.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms verbnouns from verb stems.

   Synonyms: -i, -u

Usage notes

This suffix is mostly used for verbs where the stem ends in the consonant i (though for some such verbs, such as cynnig, the verbnoun is given by dropping the i from the stem) or the vowel in the last syllable is i, u, eu, or wy.

Derived terms

Related terms

• -io (Forms verbnouns from verbs and other parts of speech)

References