おう

See also: おお

Japanese

Etymology 1

Interjection

おう or interjection • (ō) [[Category:Japanese
|おう]]

1. An informal greeting similar to hey. See also よう.

   おう、久(ひさ)しぶりだね。

   Ō, hisashiburi da ne.

   Hey, it's been a long time, hasn't it?

2. An informal interjection similar to oh or oops.

   おう、しまった！

   Ō, shimatta!

   Oh, no!

3. An informal affirmative response.

   Ａ：わかった？ Ｂ：おう。

   Ａ: Wakatta? Ｂ: Ō.

   A: "You see?" B: "Got it."

   お、おう…

   O, ō…

   Uh, sure...

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of おう – see the following entries.

【王】1 [noun] a king, especially one who is not East Asian or was East Asian in pre-imperial times; in China and Vietnam, generally a king before Qin Shi Huangdi who invented the title 皇帝 (kōtei, “huangdi; emperor”); in Korea, one of the many kings before the Korean Empire which was modeled after Japan's; in Japan, one of the rulers before Emperor Jinmu [noun] an East Asian queen regnant [noun] a nobility title for a Chinese or Vietnamese prince, bestowed on one of the 皇帝 (kōtei, “huangdi; emperor”)'s adult sons, brothers, or nephews, especially as a coming-of-age title, generally comes with an estate ("principality"); compare 皇子 (ōji, “imperial princes”, especially pre-adult ones) and 公 (kō, “dukes”, an alternative used by certain dynasties) [noun] a Japanese prince's son (such princes include 親王 (shinnō) or 王 (ō) themselves) [affix] king

【黄】2 [affix] yellow

【央】3 [affix] centre, middle [affix] (US) Short for 央州 (“Oregon (a state of the United States)”). [proper noun] a male given name

【横】3 [affix] sideways, horizontal [affix] self-willed; arbitrary; unrestrained and aggressive [affix] sudden; unexpected [affix] brimming

【応】5 [affix] respond, reply, answer (a question, call, etc.) [affix] accept, admit, agree, consent [affix] in accordance with [affix] adequate, balanced, fitting, suitable [noun] (rare) an acceptance, admittance, agreement, consent [proper noun] a surname

【往】5 [affix] to go to, to head for [affix] past, previous

【桜】5 [affix] cherry tree [affix] cherry tree that bears edible fruit [affix] (US) Short for サクラメント／桜府 (Sakuramento, “Sacramento (a city in California, United States)”).

【皇】6 [affix] emperor, mikado, tenno

【凹】S [affix] concave

【押】S [affix] to push; to press

【旺】S [affix] prosperous; vigorous

【欧】S [affix] Short for ヨーロッパ／欧羅巴 (Yōroppa, “Europe (a continent)”). [proper noun] Short for ヨーロッパ／欧羅巴 (Yōroppa, “Europe (a continent)”).

【翁】S [affix] old man [noun] old man; venerable gentleman [suffix] (honorific) venerable; old; father [pronoun] (humble, used by elderly men) I; me

【墺】H [affix] Short for オーストリア／墺太利 (Ōsutoria, “Austria (a country)”).

(This term, おう, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as おう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as おう.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 殴, 奥, 鷗, 媼, 嘔, 懊, 謳, 鶯.)

Etymology 3

Verb

おう • (ou) godan (stem おい (oi), past おった (otta))

1. 追う: to chase
2. 負う: to incur or bear
3. 生う: to grow or spring up