أبو

See also: ابو and اتو

Arabic

Noun

أَبُو • (ʔabū) m

1. nominative construct state of أَب (ʔab, “father”)

Egyptian Arabic

Noun

أبو • (abu) m

1. alternative spelling of ابو

Adjective

أبو • (abu) (feminine أمّ (umm))

1. alternative spelling of ابو

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic أَبُو (ʔabū, “father of”), nominative construct state of Arabic أَب (ʔab). Cognate to Maltese bu as well as identical forms common to all Arabic varieties.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔa.bu/ [ˈʔæbu] (even in some dialects that would typically lax to -o)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʔa.bo/

Noun

أبو • (ʔabu) m

2. (Syria, Aalma ash-Shaab) construct state of أَب (ʔab, “father”, literally “father of”) used with pronominal suffixes

   Synonyms: أَب (ʔab), بَيّ (bayy)

   Coordinate terms: أَخُو (ʔaḵu, “brother of”), إِمّ (ʔimm, “mother of”)

   أَبُوي ― ʔabūy ― my father

3. forms a kunya (used even by speakers who have بَيّ (bayy) for etymology 1 sense 1)

   Alternative form: بُو (bu)

   Coordinate term: إِمّ (ʔimm, feminine)

   أَبُو أَحْمَد ― ʔabu ʔaḥmad (literally, “Ahmad's father”)

4. forms nicknames from a characteristic trait, somewhat like Mister

   Alternative form: بُو (bu)

   Coordinate term: إِمّ (ʔimm, feminine)

   ليك ليك هيدا أبو كرش

   lēk lēk hayda ʔabu kirš

   Look, check out that guy with the belly

   (literally, “look, look at this guy, ’Mr. Belly’”)

5. (vulgar) generic expletive

   Synonym: أَخُو (ʔaḵu, literally “brother of”)

   يِلْعَن أَبُو القَرَف

   yilʕan ʔabu l-ʔaraf

   Fuck this garbage

   (literally, “Damn the father of [this] grossness”)

   Equivalent to يِلْعَن القَرَف ― yilʕan l-ʔaraf (literally, “Damn [this] grossness”).

Derived terms

• أَبُو الحِنّ (ʔabu l-ḥinn) ~ بُو الحِنّ (bu l-ḥinn, “a type of bird”)
• أَبُو بْرَيْص (ʔabu brayṣ) ~ بُو بْرَيْص (bu brayṣ, “gecko”)
• أَبُو زْرَيْق (ʔabu zrayʔ) ~ بُو زْرَيْق (bu zrayʔ, “bluebird(?)”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Turkish abav, a dialectal form of abo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʔa.ˈbaw]

Interjection

أَبَو or أَبَوّ • (ʔabáw or ʔabaww)

1. (Armenian, also Aleppo) wow!, oh my!

References

• “Aleppo-Speak”, in The Confused Arab‎^[1] (overall work in English), (Can we date this quote?), archived from the original on 3 October 2025: “Abaw: A way of expressing your astonishment as in “wooow””
• أنطوني رحيّل [ʔanṭōni rḥayyil, Anthony Rahayel] (21 September 2015), “A Trend on the Rise: Armenian Restaurants in Lebanon”, in No Garlic No Onions‎^[2] (overall work in English): “It's no wonder the #ABAW is used everywhere... Abaw means "wow effect" in Armenian. The house specialty is the homemade Mante. Let's eat: The Abaw Burger”

South Levantine Arabic

Alternative forms

• أبّ (ʔabb)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-

Proto-Semitic *ʔabw-

Arabic أَب (ʔab)

South Levantine Arabic أبو

Inherited from Arabic أَب (ʔab).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔa.bu/, [ˈʔa.bu]

• Audio (al-Lidd):

  (file)

Noun

أبو • (ʔabu) m

1. father

   Synonym: (formal) والد (wāled)

See also

• بابا (ḅāḅa, “dad”)
• إمّ (ʔimm, “mother”)