ab ovo
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of ab ovo
Literally, “from the egg”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By common consent the golden age of both was at the beginning, ab ovo.
From The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day by Chamberlain, Alexander F.
The banquet wound up with figs, olives, almonds, grapes, tarts and confections, and apples—hence the phrase ab ovo ad mala.
From Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by Withrow, William Henry
Those who desire to trace the career of Upper Canada College ab ovo, will be thankful for the following advertisements.
From Toronto of Old by Scadding, Henry
Of plot Horace says little, only suggesting that the poet should not begin ab ovo but plunge at once into the midst of the action.
From Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance A Study of Rhetorical Terms in English Renaissance Literary Criticism by Clark, Donald Lemen
I resolved therefore to begin ab ovo, and giving quarter to no impertinence or absurdity by the way, to clear the ground completely, and leave a perfect rase campagne behind me.
From The Highlands of Ethiopia by Harris, William Cornwallis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
