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  • O
    O
    noun
    the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
  • o'
    o'
    preposition
    a shortened form of of, as in o'clock or will-o'-the-wisp.
  • O'
    O'
    a prefix meaning “descendant,” in Irish family names.
  • o-
    o-
    an abridgment of ortho-.
  • -o
    -o
    a suffix occurring as the final element in informal shortenings of nouns (ammo; combo; condo; limo; promo ); -o also forms nouns, usually derogatory, for persons or things exemplifying or associated with that specified by the base noun or adjective (cheapo; pinko; sicko; weirdo; wino ).
  • o.
    o.
    abbreviation
    pint.
  • -o-
    -o-
    the typical ending of the first element of compounds of Greek origin (as -i- is, in compounds of Latin origin), used regularly in forming new compounds with elements of Greek origin and often used in English as a connective irrespective of etymology.
  • O.
    O.
    abbreviation
    (in prescriptions) a pint.
  • o
    o
    noun
    the 15th letter and fourth vowel of the modern English alphabet
  • O'-
    O'-
    prefix
    (in surnames of Irish Gaelic origin) descendant of
Synonyms

O

1 American  
[oh] / oʊ /
Or o

noun

  • O's,
    plural
  • Os,
    plural
  • o's,
    plural
  • os,
    plural
  • oes
    plural
  1. the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.

  2. any spoken sound represented by the letter O or o, as in box, note, short, or love .

  3. something having the shape of an O .

  4. a written or printed representation of the letter O or o.

  5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter O or o.


O 2 American  
[oh] / oʊ /

interjection

  1. (used before a name in direct address, especially in solemn or poetic language, to lend earnestness to an appeal).

    Hear, O Israel!

  2. (used as an expression of surprise, pain, annoyance, longing, gladness, etc.)


noun

  • O's
    plural
  1. the exclamation “O.”

O 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. Grammar. object.

  2. Old.


O 4 American  
Symbol.
  1. the fifteenth in order or in a series.

  2. the Arabic cipher; zero.

  3. (sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 11.

  4. Physiology. a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group O, A, B, or AB and to receive blood from persons of group O.

  5. Chemistry. oxygen.

  6. Logic. particular negative.


o' 5 American  
[uh, oh] / ə, oʊ /

preposition

  1. a shortened form of of, as in o'clock or will-o'-the-wisp.

  2. Chiefly Dialect. a shortened form of on.


O' 6 American  
  1. a prefix meaning “descendant,” in Irish family names.

    O'Brien; O'Connor.


o- 7 American  
Chemistry.
  1. an abridgment of ortho-.


o- 8 American  
  1. variant of ob- before m:

    omission.


o- 9 American  
  1. variant of oo-.

    oidium.


-o 10 American  
  1. a suffix occurring as the final element in informal shortenings of nouns (ammo; combo; condo; limo; promo ); -o also forms nouns, usually derogatory, for persons or things exemplifying or associated with that specified by the base noun or adjective (cheapo; pinko; sicko; weirdo; wino ).

  2. a suffix occurring in colloquial noun or adjective derivatives, usually grammatically isolated, as in address.

    cheerio; kiddo; neato; righto.


o. 11 American  

abbreviation

  1. pint.


o. 12 American  

abbreviation

  1. octavo.

  2. off.

  3. old.

  4. only.

  5. order.

  6. Baseball. out; outs.


-o- 13 American  
  1. the typical ending of the first element of compounds of Greek origin (as -i- is, in compounds of Latin origin), used regularly in forming new compounds with elements of Greek origin and often used in English as a connective irrespective of etymology.

    Franco-Italian; geography; seriocomic; speedometer.


O. 14 American  

abbreviation

  1. (in prescriptions) a pint.


O. 15 American  

abbreviation

  1. Ocean.

  2. octavo.

  3. October.

  4. Ohio.

  5. Old.

  6. Ontario.

  7. Oregon.


O 1 British  

symbol

  1. chem oxygen

  2. a human blood type of the ABO group See universal donor

  3. logic a particular negative categorial proposition, such as some men are not married: often symbolized as SoP Compare A E I 2

"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

abbreviation

  1. slang offence

"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
o 2 British  
/ əʊ /

noun

  1. the 15th letter and fourth vowel of the modern English alphabet

  2. any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in code, pot, cow, move, or form

  3. another name for nought

"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

O 3 British  
/ əʊ /

interjection

  1. a variant spelling of oh

  2. an exclamation introducing an invocation, entreaty, wish, etc

    O God!

    O for the wings of a dove!

"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

O'- 4 British  

prefix

  1. (in surnames of Irish Gaelic origin) descendant of

    O'Corrigan

"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

-o 5 British  

suffix

  1. forming informal and slang variants and abbreviations, esp of nouns

    wino

    lie doggo

    Jacko

"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

-o- 6 British  
  1. used to connect elements in a compound word Compare -i-

    chromosome

    filmography

"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

o- 7 British  

prefix

  1. short for ortho-

"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

o' 8 British  
/ ə /

preposition

  1. informal shortened form of of

    a cup o' tea

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of O2

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ō

Origin of o'5

From Middle English; by shortening

Origin of O'6

Representing Irish ó descendant, Old Irish au

Origin of -o10

Perhaps originally the interjection O, appended to words as in -o def. 2; as a derivational suffix reinforced by clipped forms of words with -o- as a linking element (e.g., photo, stereo ), by Rom nouns ending in o, and by personal nouns such as bimbo and bozo, of obscure origin

Origin of o.11

From the Latin word octārius

Origin of -o-13

Middle English (< Old French ) < Latin < Greek

Origin of O.14

From the Latin word octārius

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.

See Examples For:

It also gives non-Asian chorus members a reason to be present at Butterfly’s wedding, though having a group of American ladies sing the invocation “O Kami! O Kami!” from song sheets seemed peculiar.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 17, 2026

Test your knowledge of the English language: How many words can you create with the letters P, Y, C, R, O, and T?

From Slate Jul. 20, 2026

The exhibition "Hkeeli ya Jnoub", or "Tell me, O South", features pictures and videos preserving the memory of southern Lebanon at the capital's Beit Beirut museum.

From Barron's Jul. 19, 2026

“And at the end of the three years I was on ‘Sanford and Son,’ ‘The Waltons’ and ‘Harry O.’

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 16, 2026

“Madu! Is this you? O gi di ife a?”

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

However, “in past El Niño events, we’ve seen similar-looking Portuguese man o’ war, a very rare visitor to our waters, washing up on our beaches.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 15, 2026

“Coffee badging”—going to the office just long enough to show your face and grab a cup o’ joe—was a popular workaround.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 30, 2025

Amelie McCann said Julia Wandelt had told her she had memories of playing Ring a Ring o' Roses with her and feeding her brother Sean.

From BBC Oct. 9, 2025

Any way you slice it, this week’s Slate News Quiz is a piece o’ fun.

From Slate Nov. 1, 2024

“Buckbeak’s case against the Committee fer the Disposal o’ Dangerous Creatures,” said Hagrid.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

Former Nasa administrator Sean O' Keefe told the BBC that the nations that land on the Moon will have the advantage of exploring and developing the resources that are there.

From BBC Mar. 31, 2026

Visitor access to nearby Man O' War beach remains open.

From BBC Feb. 24, 2026

Former basketball player Shaquille O’ Neal is also a high-profile investor.

From MarketWatch Nov. 19, 2025

But Heart O’ the Hills confirmed that its camp director, Jane Ragsdale, is one of the flood’s victims .

From Salon Jul. 7, 2025

After a single trip to the supermarket, the refrigerator and the cupboards fill with familiar labels: Skippy, Hood, Bumble Bee, Land O’ Lakes.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

At week's end a Russian delegation got the signatures of the leaders of Kazakhstan on a similar agreement-to-try-t o- agree.

From Time Magazine Archive

Phenol-2,4-disulphonic acid is prepared from o- or p-phenolsulphonic acid, whereas phenol-2,4,6-trisulphonic acid is prepared directly from phenol by heating with concentrated sulphuric acid in presence of phosphorus pentoxide.

From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser

In the absence of free sulphuric acid the conversion of o- into p-phenolsulphonic acid is brought about by heating the aqueous solution.

From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser

And trewelie, if there be any // and in no o- good in them, it is either lerned, borowed, or // ther tong. stolne, from some one of those worthie wittes of Athens.

From The Schoolmaster by Roger Ascham

Of the three isomeric xylenes o- and m-xylene dissolve in concentrated, p-xylene in fuming sulphuric acid only.

From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser

Usually words ending in "-o" are masculine and those ending in "-a" are feminine, but there are many common words that break those gender rules, like "la mano," the word for "hand."

From Salon Sep. 26, 2022

I don't think the "-e" should eliminate the existing "-o" and the "-a."

From Salon Sep. 26, 2022

The -o suffix traces back to old comic strip characters with names like Knocko and Groucho.

From Slate Mar. 31, 2020

Knocko, Peddlo, Henpecko, and the rest became so popular that the -o suffix soon spread to words up and down the English language.

From Slate Mar. 31, 2020

I knew perfectly well why, but I didn’t know how -o put it.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

Using a new reference genome for P. malariae and a manually curated draft P. o. curtisi genome, we are now able to accurately place these species within the Plasmodium phylogeny.

From Nature Jan. 24, 2017

Collated tables for all molecular evolution measures for all genes can be found in Source Data File 1 for P. malariae and P. o. curtisi.

From Nature Jan. 24, 2017

Reality is that you are giving up your family time by doing the o. t. when they need you at work. 

From Time May 3, 2013

“If you dey come give am ticket to leave this here country, I will disappear o. I will not even stop home for pick my bag.”

From Washington Post

“Me, I want as many governors as possible to come to my own wedding o. It shows levels, serious levels,” Ranyinudo said.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Thus masc. -o- stems show palatal modification, e.g. corn, “horn,” plur. cyrn < *kornī; the plural ending of -u- stems, O. Gaulish -oves, gives O.W. -ou, Mid.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

Thankfully, Curry did not allow any eerie rumors to deter him from securing the home, which was originally built in 1922, having been designed by acclaimed architect Stiles O. Clements.

From MarketWatch Aug. 31, 2026

In “Journey to the Ants,” Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson unveil these astonishing “microwildernesses” as part of their long investigations into ants’ social lives.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 3, 2026

The Senate opened debate this week on the late South Carolina senator’s legacy legislation—the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act—by an overwhelming 86–12 vote.

From Slate Aug. 1, 2026

And if he’s going to be a senator, he says, he needs to lock down a Jackie O. – not a Marilyn.

From Salon Jul. 6, 2026

Whether time proves me right and the Pres.’s two Secretaries, and the Hill boys, and the E. O. Lawrences wrong, I suppose no one will ever know.”

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

"The lack of justice has sparked this wave of protests," Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir of the legal rights group Ain o Salish Kendra told AFP.

From Barron's May 22, 2026

Mr. Brownlee’s tenor proved rock-solid in Arturo’s demanding music, from his exquisitely relaxed, almost languid opening aria, “A te, o cara,” to some punishing high Fs.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 2, 2026

It calls on the US to "reassure the people of Palau" that civilians will be protected if conflict was o break out.

From BBC Nov. 23, 2025

The Red Dog Saloon, Más o Menos and the ad hoc gay bar Tiny Pony Tavern have found their footing for more ambitious desert nightlife.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 21, 2025

“Me and my madam and the children are leaving tomorrow morning for the village. I came to tell you to stay well. Ka o di.”

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

While some winning coaches were making their names with toughness that bordered on abuse, he urged Close to see her teams as human beings first, not X’s and O’s.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 6, 2026

Certainly, I think given the amount of pastry I consume and have consumed in my lifetime, I thought that Mary O’s Irish Soda Bread scones were kind of a revelation.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 3, 2025

However, a paediatric pathologist who was not involved in the case but has seen Baby O's post-mortem report, says it was "unlikely" Baby O's liver injuries were caused by impact - as the prosecution claims.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2025

Other experts, including the paediatric pathologist, said that Dr Aiton's observation of hyper-inflated lungs would not explain Baby O's liver injuries.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2025

When Elizebeth and her team stacked up the twenty-eight Enigma messages they had in December 1942, they discovered that the first column had far more O’s in it than anything else.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

"The Dutch experience in my opinion offers a warning for Canada," Os cautioned.

From BBC May 15, 2026

Os achieved an international breakthrough with her visual album, 2022’s “K23.”

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 20, 2026

As a show of gratitude to the girls and the gays, Os transforms from “Belladona” to Primadonna in vogue-ready house bangers like “Slay,” “Problemática,” and “Boom In Your Face.”

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 20, 2026

Os, born Kenia Guadalupe Flores Osuna in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, has made an incredible leap from social media influencer to Latin Grammy-nominated pop star in under a decade.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 20, 2026

The Gs in her name looked like nibbled Os.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

They eventually named their institute for an online trend that had slime enthusiasts replacing the vowels in their name with double o’s, so Kira would become “Kooroo” and slime becomes “Sloomoo.”

From Washington Post Jun. 30, 2022

Like other Romance languages, Spanish divides most endings of nouns into masculine o’s or feminine a’s.

From Washington Times Dec. 12, 2021

Plosives, or stops, convey “slower” and “bigger” — as do vowels that are voiced at the back of the throat, like the o in “token” or the double o’s in “food.”

From New York Times Jan. 15, 2015

Mathematics said that any concept could be conveyed in such a binary code as long as the sequence of i’s and o’s was long enough. 

From Forbes Sep. 2, 2014

There is an envelope with my name, Hank Hooperman, in my mom’s curlicue handwriting with hearts above the o’s.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Dreyfus pleased his friends no better than his :oes: he irked them by not becoming a "Dreyfusard."

From Time Magazine Archive

The poet "mouthing out his hollow oes and aes" is, we are told, a good description of Tennyson's tone and manner of reading.

From The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by John Churton Collins

Nad oes wedd na moes, masw ynyd yw’n gwlad, Nad oes mad eithr gwad a gwyd.

From Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards by Evan Evans

Cymmrodedd fy llyw lluoedd beri, Nid oes rwyf eirioes, aer dyfysgu, Cymro yw haelryw o hil Beli hir,    Yn herwydd i brofi.

From Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards by Evan Evans

However thick-skinned a man may be, and protected over all by the oes triplex of self-sufficiency, he cannot escape being wounded by furious and incessant attacks.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 21, July, 1859 by Various

A new Longevity Preparedness Index from John Hancock and MIT AgeLab os based on a survey of over 1,300 adults and focused on eight areas such as finance, home, health and community.

From MarketWatch Dec. 12, 2025

She first broke through with 2016’s “Remonta,” an album she recorded with her former band Liniker e os Caramelows.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 8, 2025

Ambos os programas são “fundamentais para entender a expansão agrícola no Brasil e as emissões de carbono do desmatamento na Amazônia,” diz Douglas Morton, especialista em sensoriamento remoto do Goddard Space Flight Center da NASA.

From Science Magazine May 26, 2022

Hours later, Kelly posts bail and os released from jail in Chicago.

From Seattle Times Aug. 18, 2021

The os in his calculations were only intermediaries, crutches that vanished miraculously by the end of the computation.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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