-o

See also Appendix:Variations of "o"

English

Etymology 1

From many Spanish or Italian words that end in o.

Suffix

-o

1. (humorous) Converts certain words to faux Italian or Spanish.

   no problemo

Etymology 2

Perhaps from a special use of the interjection O, oh; and/or perhaps from o (“one”), from Middle English o, oo, variant of a, on, oon, an (“one”). More at one.

Suffix

-o (plural -os or -oes, depending on the word)

1. A diminutive suffix.

Usage notes

• -o is generally applied to nouns, but sometimes adjectives, such as agro. It may also be applied to certain given names or surnames, often with elision and sometimes from an already shortened form, to create a nickname form — e.g., Jacko from Jack, Davo from Dave, Smitho from Smith.

Derived terms

bucko cheapo daddy-o kiddo lesbo neato preggo neato righto sicko wacko whammo wino weirdo yobbo The terms below are all Australianisms. Some are also found in other varieties of English. agro, aggro arvo biffo bizzo bottlo compo Davo dero, derro doco fisho Freo garbo goodo

gyno journo kero lezzo metho milko muso nasho reffo rego relo the Salvos seppo, Seppo servo smoko thingo veggo wino, wine-o

See also

• -ie, -y

Etymology 3

Back-formation from typo.

Suffix

-o

1. An error of a specific type.

Derived terms

• clicko
• scanno
• speako
• spello
• thinko

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Esperanto

Etymology

• From the masculine singular of the Romance languages, such as Italian (amico); perhaps also the neuter singular of Russian (окно)
• Perhaps from the above (Italian quello, Russian то)

Suffix

-o

1. Nominal suffix. Most Esperanto nouns end in -o. (A few nouns end in -aŭ, and with some writers some feminine names end in -a.)
   • amiko friend
   • patro father
   • vorto word
2. -thing. (correlative object ending.)
   • kio what?, what
   • tio that
   • ĉio everything
   • io something
   • nenio nothing

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Finnish

Suffix

-o (front vowel harmony variant -ö)

1. Added to verb stems to form a noun.

   huutaa "shout" → huuto "shout"

   keittää "boil, cook" → keitto "cooking; soup"

   nähdä "see" → näkö "vision" (ability to see)

2. Forms variants from a few nominal roots.

   hilla "cloudberry" → hillo "jam"

   kanta "base" → kanto "tree stump"

   tasa "level" → taso "plane"

Usage notes

• Used deverbally especially with those verbs whose citation form ends with -aa or -ää. In stems with e or i, the suffix has its back vowel form, -o.

Declension

Declension of -o (type valo) singular plural nominative -o -ot genitive -on -ojen partitive -oa -oja accusative -o -on -ot inessive -ossa -oissa elative -osta -oista illative -oon -oihin adessive -olla -oilla ablative -olta -oilta allative -olle -oille essive -ona -oina translative -oksi -oiksi instructive – -oin abessive -otta -oitta comitative – -oineen

Derived terms

[+] Finnish words suffixed with -o

See also

• -u
• -uu

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French

Etymology

Corresponds to -ot, -au

Suffix

-o

1. Added to a noun or an adjective after apocope, to create a familiar synonym.

Derived terms

• dico
• hosto
• populo
• ramollo
• resto
• rigolo
• socialo

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Ido

Suffix

-o

1. Nominal suffix. All Ido nouns end in -o.

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Italian

Suffix

-o

1. Used with a stem to form the first-person singular present of regular are and ere verbs and those -ire verbs that dont take "isc"

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Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: -e

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Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Descendants

• Middle High German: -e

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate to Old English -a, in ǣta (“eater”), Gothic -𐌰 (-a), in 𐌽𐌿𐍄𐌰 (nuta, “fisher”). In some cases, the root appears in the zero-grade as in boto (from biotan).

Suffix

-o m

1. used to form masculine agents from verbs

   gëbo (“giver”) from geban (“to give”)

   sprëhho (“speaker”) from sprehhan (“to speak”)

   boto (“messenger”) from biotan (“to offer, send, command”)

   herizogo (“army leader”) from ziohan (“to pull, lead”)

   fora-sago (“prophet”) from sagēn (“to say”)

Declension

Most nouns with this suffix follow the n-declension, like hano (“cock”), namo (“name”), gomo (“man”).

Descendants

• German: -e
• Middle High German: -e

In Middle High German, the suffix is replaced by -er (whence German -er), as in Middle High German gëber instead of Old High German gëbo. Only a few German words still have a final -e that results from Old High German -o.

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Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ô.

Suffix

-o

1. Forms adverbs from adjectives.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate to Old English -a, in ǣta (“eater”), Gothic -𐌰 (-a), in 𐌽𐌿𐍄𐌰 (nuta, “fisher”).

Suffix

-o m

1. used to form masculine agents from verbs and nouns

   gevo (“giver”) from gevan (“to give”)

   gibeddio (“bedfellow”) from beddi (“bed”)

Descendants

• Middle Low German: -e

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Spanish

Suffix

-o

1. Suffix indicating the first-person singular present indicative of verbs.

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Volapük

Suffix

-o

1. adverb ending
2. -wise (in the matter of; with regard to)