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ab ovo

American  
[ahb oh-woh, ab oh-voh] / ɑb ˈoʊ woʊ, æb ˈoʊ voʊ /

adverb

Latin.
  1. from the beginning.


ab ovo British  
/ æb ˈəʊvəʊ /
  1. from the beginning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Again, of the Paradise Lost: ‘It has the totality of the poem as distinguished from the ab ovo birth and parentage or straight line of history.’

From English Critical Essays Nineteenth Century by Jones, Edmund David

Instead of being ab ovo ad malum, it was ab malo ad ovum.

From The Castaways by Pearse, Lolbran

The Romans began their noonday meal with eggs, and ended with a dessert; ab ovo ad malum.

From The Castaways by Pearse, Lolbran

Moreover, we have the advantage of tracing the growth of the iron manufacture ab ovo, for, as we have seen, before the industrial revolution it played a most insignificant part in English commerce.

From The Evolution of Modern Capitalism A Study of Machine Production by Hobson, J. A. (John Atkinson)

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.