ergo
adverb
ergo
1 American
[ur-goh, er-goh]
/ ˈɜr goʊ, ˈɛr goʊ /
adverb
ergo-
2
American
especially before a vowel,
erg-
ergo-
3
American
ergo
1
British
/ ˈɜːɡəʊ /
noun
ergo
2
British
/ ˈɜːɡəʊ /
ergo
Cultural
Etymology
Origin of ergo1
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1350–1400
Origin of ergo-2
Combining form representing Greek érgon
Origin of ergo-3
From French
Explanation
The adverb ergo is a fancy version of "therefore." Use it as a connector between thoughts and sentences that logically follow. You were present during the robbery; ergo, you were called as a witness. Ergo appeared in late Middle English meaning "therefore," probably from the Old Latin root regere, "to guide." You can see the relation to the word as it is used today, to present a connection between ideas where a second sentence or idea is "guided" by, or draws a logical conclusion from the first one. Satirist Jonathan Swift once wrote, “Words are but wind; and learning is nothing but words; ergo, learning is nothing but wind.”
Vocabulary lists containing ergo
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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Foreign Words and Phrases Commonly Used in English, List 2
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The Merchant of Venice
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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.
Fortunately for the viewer, Tom disappears early from the action — ergo “Vanished.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
She is a character in a workplace comedy and ergo utterly resigned to the job being hell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
The Covid pandemic then freed up McMurtry, along with her team-mates, to oversee their own training, working on ergo machines, weights and agility sessions in isolation.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2024
There is someone who writes to me almost weekly about media’s failures — and I assume, ergo, my failure — and he won’t be mollified.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
No one knew what was going on inside Bear Stearns or Merrill Lynch or Citigroup, but these places had always been the smart money, ergo their bets must be the smart bets.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
