où

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ou"

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French où, from Old French ou, from Latin ubi (“where?”). The grave accent was added in Middle French to differentiate from ou (“or”).

Pronunciation

Adverb

où

  1. where (interrogative)
    Synonym: (Louisiana) éyoù
    Où est la gare?
    Where is the station?
    Où tu vas, là ?
    Hey, where are you going?
    Comment savez-vous où j’habite ?
    How do you know where I live?
  2. where (relative pronoun)
    • Jean-Claude Bologne, Histoire du célibat et des célibataires, 2007
      Dans un monde où l’homme propose et la femme dispose, le célibataire a fait un choix conscient, dont il est pleinement responsable.
      In a world where the man proposes and the woman disposes, the single person has made a conscious choice for which he is fully responsible.
  3. at that time; when
    • 1853, Guillaume Pauthier, Chine moderne, ou description historique, géographique et littéraire de ce vaste empire‎, page 335:
      Ce n’est qu’à l’époque où l’on a commencé à avoir un fonds de signes suffisants pour écrire des livres, que l’on trouve l’usage des groupes phonétiques.
      It's only at the time where one starts to see a foundation of sufficient signs to write books, that one finds the use of phonetic groups.
    Je ne l’ai pas vu aussi heureux depuis le jour où il est devenu père.
    I haven't seen him so happy since the day he became a father.
  4. (poetic) whither, to where
    Un ciel plus pur et des dieux meilleurs, je t’offre à Rome où je me rends.
    A purer heaven and better gods I offer you in Rome, whither I go.

Usage notes

  • où is the only word in the French language that contains the letter u with a grave accent (`).

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French ou, from Latin ubi. The grave accent was added in Middle French to differentiate from ou (“or”).

Adverb

où

  1. where

Descendants

  • French: où
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