wo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "wo"

Translingual

Symbol

wo

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

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Wolof terms

English

Alternative forms

• whoa

Etymology 1

Variant of who.

Interjection

wo

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

Etymology 2

Variant of woe.

Noun

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

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

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/, /wɔː/
• Rhymes: -o, -ɔː

Noun

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

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

• O/W, OW, ow, 'ow

Acehnese

Alternative forms

• woë

Verb

wo

1. to go home

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Akan

Pronoun

wo

1. thou, you (singular)

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• wou (Northern Bavarian)

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /voː/

Adverb

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

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

• wos, wås (East Central Bavarian)

Conjunction

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Verb

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

• 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

• shi
• wei
• enbe

Antonyms

• pushi
• u

Derived terms

• -zho - contraction of -zhi wo.

Ewe

Pronoun

wo

1. them
2. they

German

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /voː/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

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

• 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

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

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

Pronoun

wo

1. (relative, dialectal, nonstandard) who, whom, which, that

   Ich bin der, wo das kann.

   I'm the one who can do that.

   • 1979, Margret Weiler, Zur Frage der Integration der Zigeuner in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: eine Untersuchung der gegenwärtigen Situation der Zigeuner und der sozialpolitischen und sozialarbeiterischen Massnahmen für Zigeuner, self-published doctoral thesis, p. 188

     Aber daß sie sich da mit uns unterhalten, das tun die nicht, mal grad die wo wir mal kennen, das ist eine Familie (...)

     But that they should have a chat with us, they don't do that, just maybe those who we know a bit, that's one family (...)

   • 1994, Burkhard Hergesell, Arbeiterkulturen im Betrieb: interethnische Beziehungen zwischen Produktionsarbeitern: eine empirische Studie, IKO Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, p. 133

     Ali: "Und der Hussein, der ist ein Typ, wo / wo doch nicht Türkisch redet. Der redet nur Deutsch mit mir. (...)"

     Ali: "And Hussein, he's a bloke who / who won't speak Turkish. He only talks German to me. (...)"

   • 2009, Elfriede Jelinek, Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns. Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel). Über Tiere. – Drei Romane, Rowohlt Taschenbuch, p. 216

     Ich bin, der ich bin. Ich bin, wo ich bin. Ich bin der, wo ich bin. Wo sagt man sowas?

     I am who I am. I am where I am. I am the one that I am. Where do they say it like this?

Usage notes

• 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

• woanders, wobei

German Low German

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• (in some dialects) woans

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

wo

1. how

   Wo vele Daag?

   How many days?

Etymology 2

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

Pronoun

wo

1. (Low Prussian, relative) who, which

   (Low Prussian) Dat, wo ös... ― that which is...

Usage notes

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

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French haut (“high”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Adjective

wo

1. high
2. tall

Adverb

wo

1. high

Related terms

• wotè

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• woo (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/

Adverb

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

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

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Japanese

Romanization

wo

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

Lashi

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Noun

wo

1. village

References

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

Lower Sorbian

Preposition

wo

1. Superseded spelling of wó.

Luxembourgish

Verb

wo

1. second-person singular imperative of woen

Mandarin

Romanization

wo (wo⁵／wo⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄨㄛ)

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

Usage notes

• 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

Etymology 1

Pronoun

wo

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

Etymology 2

Noun

wo (plural wos)

1. Alternative form of woo

Etymology 3

Adjective

wo

1. woeful
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     Wo was the knight and sorroufully he syketh.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/
• Hyphenation: wo
• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

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

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

Xhosa

Pronoun

-wo

1. Combining stem of wona.

Ye'kwana

Variant orthographies

ALIV	wo
Brazilian standard	wo
New Tribes	wo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [βo]

Noun

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

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

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “wo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[2], 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^[3], 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

Etymology 1

Clipping of èwo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ꜜwō/

Determiner

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

• èwo (“which; what”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Yoruboid *ɣò

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wò/

Verb

wò

1. to look

   Ẹ jẹ́ ká wò ó ― Let's see

2. to watch

Synonyms

Yoruba Varieties and Languages - wò (“to look, watch”)
view map; edit data
Language Family	Variety Group	Variety/Language	Location	Words
Proto-Itsekiri-SEY	Southeast Yoruba	Ào	Ìdóàní	yò
		Ìdànrè	Ìdànrè	ghò
		Ìjẹ̀bú	Ìjẹ̀bú Òde	wò
			Ìkòròdú	ghò
			Ṣágámù	ghò
			Ẹ̀pẹ́	ghò
		Ìkálẹ̀	Òkìtìpupa	ghò
		Ìlàjẹ	Mahin	ghò
		Oǹdó	Oǹdó	ghò
		Ọ̀wọ̀	Ọ̀wọ̀	ghò
		Usẹn	Usẹn	ghò
	Ìtsẹkírì		Ìwẹrẹ	ghò
	Olùkùmi		Ugbódù	ghò
Proto-Yoruba	Central Yoruba	Èkìtì	Àdó Èkìtì	ò
			Àkúrẹ́	ò
			Ọ̀tùn Èkìtì	ò
		Ifẹ̀	Ilé Ifẹ̀	wò
	Northwest Yoruba	Àwórì	Èbúté Mẹ́tà	wò
		Ẹ̀gbá	Abẹ́òkúta	wò
		Èkó	Èkó	wò
		Ìbàdàn	Ìbàdàn	wò
		Ìbàràpá	Igbó Òrà	wò
		Ìbọ̀lọ́	Òṣogbo	wò
		Ìlọrin	Ìlọrin	wò
		Oǹkó	Ìtẹ̀síwájú LGA	wò
			Ìwàjówà LGA	wò
			Kájọlà LGA	wò
			Ìsẹ́yìn LGA	wò
			Ṣakí West LGA	wò
			Atisbo LGA	wò
			Ọlọ́runṣògo LGA	wò
		Ọ̀yọ́	Ọ̀yọ́	wò
		Standard Yorùbá	Nàìjíríà	wò
			Bɛ̀nɛ̀	wò
	Northeast Yoruba/Okun	Ìyàgbà	Yàgbà East LGA	gwò
		Owé	Kabba	wò
	Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba	Ifɛ̀	Akpáré	wò
			Atakpamé	wò
			Tchetti	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

• bẹ̀ wò (“to visit”)
• tọ́ wò (“to taste”)
• waago (“to check the time”)
• wò ó (“look; see”)
• àyẹ̀wò (“check”)
• ìdánwò (“exam; test”)
• ìwòsàn (“healing”)

 

Zulu

Pronoun

-wo

1. Combining stem of wona.