الو

See also: آلو and ألو

Bulgar

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *elig.

Noun

الُو (elüw)

1. hand

   عُلَمَا سَمنَ سَوَان مَسجِد سَمنَ عَمَارَة طَنَان اَكِل خَيرَاتلُ الُوى بَرَكاتلُ مُون سُوَار يَالِ [...] عَلىِ خوَاجَه آولِ آترَج خُواجَه آولِ آبُوبَكَر خُوَاجَه آولِ آلِبْ خُواجَه بَلُوى كُ ― 'Ulamâsemne sevên mescidsemne 'amâret tanân ekil hayrâtlu, elüwi berekâtlu Mûn Suwâr yêli [...] Ali howâce awli Atrac howâce awli Abûbeker howâce awli Alıp howâce belüwi kü. ― This is the monument of teacher [...] Ali's son teacher Atrac's son teacher Ebubeker's son teacher Alıp, who loves scholars and builds mosques, very beneficent, whose hands are fertile, who is descent from the big Suwâr clan.

Descendants

• Chuvash: алӑ (ală)

References

• Tekin, Talât (1988) Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası [Volga Bulgarian Ephitaphs and Volga Bulgarian Language]‎^[1] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, →ISBN, pages 190-191
• Erdal, Marcel (1993) Die Sprache der wolgabolgarischen Inschriften (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 32

Etymology 2

From Proto-Turkic *ellig.

Alternative forms

• اَلُّ (ellü)

Noun

الُو (el^lüw)

1. fifty

Descendants

• Chuvash: аллӑ (allă)

References

• Tekin, Talât (1988) Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası [Volga Bulgarian Ephitaphs and Volga Bulgarian Language]‎^[2] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, →ISBN, pages 94, 198

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Burushaski

Etymology

Borrowed from Urdu آلُو (ālū).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aːluː]

Noun

الو (aaluu)

1. potato

References

• Bechtholdt, Astrid (2024) “aaluu”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017.

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Malay

Noun

الو (plural الو-الو or الو۲, informal 1st possessive الوکو, 2nd possessive الومو, 3rd possessive الوڽ)

1. Jawi spelling of alu‎

Pashto

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

الو • (alu) ?

1. plum

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Sanskrit आलुक (āluka)

Urdu آلُو (ālū)bor.

Pashto الو

Borrowed from Urdu آلُو (ālū, “potato”).

Noun

الو • (alu) ?

1. potato

Persian

Alternative forms

• علو (alow) (archaic)
• آلاوه (âlâve) (archaic)
• آلاو (âlâv) (archaic)
• الاو (alâv) (archaic)

Etymology 1

A Turkic borrowing, compare Azerbaijani alov, Uzbek olov, Turkish alev, Kazakh алау (alau).

Noun

Dari	الو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	алов

الو • (alow)

1. (dialectal) flame, blaze

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French allô.

Interjection

الو • (alo)

1. hello (when answering the telephone)

Urdu

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀉𑀮𑀽𑀅 (ulūa), from Sanskrit उलूक (úlūka). Cognate with Gujarati ઉલ્લૂ (ullū) and Punjabi الو (ullū).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʊl.luː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

اُلُّو • (ullū) m (Hindi spelling उल्लू)

1. owl
2. (slang, offensive) idiot, fool

Further reading

• “الو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “الو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “الو”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “الو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “الو”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “الو”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC