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.
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
Let’s give the last word, plus one of mine, to the famous phrase of French philosopher and scientist Rene Descartes: “Cogito ergo sum ridens” — “I think, therefore I am laughing.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
Post hoc ergo propter hoc, external is an informal fallacy that states that because an event followed another, it was caused by it.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 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
“Latin, yes! Cogito, ergo sum. ‘I think, therefore I am.’”
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
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.
