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ob-. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ob-, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ob- in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ob- you have here. The definition of the word
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ob-, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology 1
From Latin ob.
Prefix
ob-
- (non-productive) Against; facing; a combining prefix found in verbs of Latin origin.
- (botany) Of a reversed shape.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Clipping of obligatory.
Prefix
ob-
- (Internet, informal, humorous) Obligatory; prepended to the name of a topic being mentioned to avoid accusations of being off-topic.
1998, Haydn Black, “lesbian goths”, in alt.gothic (Usenet):ObGoth: Uh, well, it's like this you see, <searches in random file o' obgoth things> anyone out there got the new CoX album on Tess? If so which album is it *most* like?
1998, Peter Thomas, “FAQ: more info request”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet):Aren't Newcastle's chairman Sunderland supporters? (From the way they acted?) Erm...obspeccy? Tynesoft, eh? What happened to them?
2000, Dan Glover, “Introduction to Linux article for commentary”, in alt.linux (Usenet):ObLinux: SAP were giving away a free development environment for use with RedHat v6.1 recently, a distinctly non-free complete system has been available for a while. This offers another example of a commercial application where the vendors now have sufficient confidence in Linux to release a port (even if it is distribution-specific).
Anagrams
Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ob, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ebʰi. See o.
Prefix
ob-
- a prefix with various functions, e.g. expressing:
- omission (obden = ob + den (day) = every other day)
- surrounding (objet = ob + jet (drive) = to drive around)
Derived terms
See also
Further reading
- o-/ob(e)- in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017
German
Etymology 1
From ob (“over, above”).
Prefix
ob-
- over-, super-
Etymology 2
From Latin ob-.
Prefix
ob-
- ob-
Derived terms
Latin
Etymology
Prefixation of preposition ob (“towards; against”).
Prefix
ob-
- towards; against
Usage notes
In compounds, the b is often assimilated into the next consonant.
Derived terms
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *o(b)-.
Pronunciation
Prefix
ob-
- prefix added to verbs to mean surrounding, around
- ob- + ić → obić
- prefix added to verbs with various meanings
- ob- + mówić → obmówić
Derived terms
See also
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish ob-. Doublet of o-.
Pronunciation
Prefix
ob-
- prefix added to verbs to mean surrounding, around
- ob- + jechać → objechać
- Synonym: o-
- prefix added to verbs meaning entirely
- ob- + jeść (“to eat”) → objeść się (“to eat and be overstuffed”)
Because the prefix ends with the consonant sometimes the first letter of the verb was dropped.
- ob- + źrzeć → obejrzeć
- ob- + walić → obalić
Derived terms
See also
Serbo-Croatian
- o- (usually before plosives, sometimes also other consonants)
- op- (before unvoiced consonants)
- oba- (in a few words)
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ob, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ebʰi. See o.
Pronunciation
Prefix
ob- (Cyrillic spelling об-)
- around, enclosing, surrounding
- jahati → objahati
- grliti → obgrliti
- kružiti → okružiti
- around, throughout, wholly
- javiti → objaviti
- uzeti → obuzeti
- lizati → oblizati
- on the surface or top of something
- grepsti → ogrepsti
- forms perfective verbs from imperfectives
- hrabriti → ohrabriti
- quite, -ish
- malen → omalen
Derived terms