lo

[loh]

interjection

look! see! (frequently used in Biblical expressions; now usually used as an expression of surprise in the phrase lo and behold).

Origin of lo

before 900; Middle English; conflation of lo exclamation of surprise, grief, or joy, O! (Old English lā; see la²) and lo, shortened form of loke (Old English lōca), imperative of loken to look

lo

[loh]

adjective

an informal, simplified spelling of low¹, used especially in labeling or advertising commercial products: lo calorie.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lo

Contemporary Examples of lo

Brands like Lo & Sons and Delsey are already tapping Travel Noire to connect with black travelers.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement
Charlise Ferguson
January 4, 2015
And lo, Snowballs—underpants which can hold a flexible gel pack that you store in the freezer—was born.
Men, Ice Your Balls To Make Babies—and Other Male Fertility Fixes
Tom Sykes
December 22, 2014
And lo and behold, she was determined to sink the mining industry, and we were determined to fight for our community.
‘Pride’: The Feel-Good Movie of the Year, and the Film Rupert Murdoch Doesn’t Want You to See
Marlow Stern
October 13, 2014
“In a sense, the masses are not organized,” says Lo, who is with the South China Morning Post.
Occupy Hong Kong Hangs On
Lennox Samuels
September 30, 2014
Lo thinks the local government should designate one or two protest sites and leave the demonstrators alone.
Occupy Hong Kong Hangs On
Lennox Samuels
September 30, 2014

Historical Examples of lo

Then I heard a voice, saying, 'Lo, the soul seeketh to ascend!'
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
But, the letter read, lo, there was the same disappointment as of old!
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
There shall be a sound of lamentation; lo, then we shall rest.
The Babylonian Legends of the Creation
British Museum
Verily their way shall be filled with disaster; lo, then we shall rest.
The Babylonian Legends of the Creation
British Museum
But when the division of all this wealth came to be made, lo!
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle

British Dictionary definitions for lo

lo

interjection

look! see! (now often in the phrase lo and behold)

Word Origin for lo

Old English lā

LO

abbreviation for

hello

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

Word Origin and History for lo

interj.

early 13c., from Old English la, exclamation of surprise, grief, or joy; influenced in Middle English by lo!, short for lok "look!" imperative of loken "to look" (see look (v.)). Expression lo and behold attested by 1779.