-o

See also: Appendix:Variations of "o"

English

Etymology 1

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)

1. A colloquializing suffix.
2. A type of person (colloquial).

Usage notes

-o generally does not change the meaning of the word, only making it more colloquial, often with elision (like clipping, but with a suffix), and is primarily applied to nouns, as in kiddo ‎(“kid”) or preso ‎(“presentation”). It is sometimes applied to 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.

Less commonly, it results in a change in meaning, primarily meaning “a person with a characteristic”, and is generally applied to adjectives, resulting in a noun, as is weirdo ‎(“weird person”). More rarely it can also be applied to a noun, as in wino ‎(“wine-drinking alcoholic”).

Derived terms

► English words suffixed with -o

• bucko
• cheapo
• daddy-o
• kiddo
• lesbo
• neato
• parmo
• preggo

• preso
• resto
• righto
• wacko
• whammo
• wino, wine-o
• yobbo

Type of person

• cheapo
• psycho
• rando
• sicko

• wacko
• weirdo
• wino

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

See also

• -ie, -y

Etymology 2

From many Spanish or Italian words that end in o.

Suffix

-o

1. (humorous) Converts certain words to faux Italian or Spanish. Can be used with el for expressions such as el stinko.

   no problemo

Derived terms

• problemo
• stinko

Etymology 3

Back-formation from typo.

Suffix

-o

1. An error of a specific type.

Derived terms

• clicko
• scanno
• speako
• spello
• thinko

Derived terms

► English words suffixed with -o

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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 ‎(okno))
• Perhaps from the above (Italian quello, Russian то ‎(to))

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. Forms result or action nouns from verbs.

   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

Inflection of -o (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		-o	-ot
genitive		-on	-ojen
partitive		-oa	-oja
illative		-oon	-oihin
		singular	plural
nominative		-o	-ot
accusative	nom.	-o	-ot
	gen.	-on
genitive		-on	-ojen
partitive		-oa	-oja
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

Derived terms

dico hosto populo ramollo

resto rigolo socialo

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Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto -o, from Romance languages.

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 do not take -isc-

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /oː/

Etymology 1

See Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂- (with nominative ō made common to all cases).

Suffix

-ō m ‎(genitive -ōnis); third declension

1. suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms masculine agent nouns

   combibō ‎(root: combib-) + -ō → combibō

   incubō ‎(root: incub-) + -ō → incubō

2. suffixed to nouns, forms cognomina and, in post-Classical Latin, nicknames and equivalent designations

   Brūn + -ō → Brūnō

   cicer + -ō → Cicerō

Declension

singulare tantum declension in cognomina

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	-ō	-ōnēs
genitive	-ōnis	-ōnum
dative	-ōnī	-ōnibus
accusative	-ōnem	-ōnēs
ablative	-ōne	-ōnibus
vocative	-ō	-ōnēs

Synonyms

• (suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms masculine agent nouns): -a¹

Derived terms

Category Latin nouns suffixed with -o not found

References

• “-ō¹” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 2

Developing from nouns’ ablatives of manner.

Suffix

-ō ‎(comparative -ius, superlative -issimō)

1. forms adverbs

   prīmus + -ō → prīmō

   tūtus + -ō → tūtō

Derived terms

Category Latin adverbs suffixed with -o not found

References

• “-ō²” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Italic *-āō or *-aēō, from the following sources:

• Denominative verbs with *-eh₂yéti (e.g. dōnō, pugnō, cūrō)
• Verbs from roots in *-eh₂-. (e.g. for, nō, hiō, flō, domō, iuvō)
• Verbs from roots in *-h₃-. (e.g. dō, lavō, arō)
• By sound laws acting on *-h₂ + *-éh₁yeti. (singular case of stō)

Alternative forms

• -aō

Suffix

present active -ō, present infinitive -āre, perfect active -āvī, supine -ātum

1. suffixed to nouns — originally a-stem nouns, but later nouns with other stems — forms regular first-conjugation verbs

   cūra + -ō → cūrō

   dōnum + -ō → dōnō

   laus ‎(stem: laud-) + -ō → laudō

   multa + -ō → multō

2. suffixed to third-conjugation verbs in composition, forms regular first-conjugation verbs

   com- + pellō ‎(pres. act. inf.: pellere) + -ō → compellō ‎(pres. act. inf.: compellāre)

   prō- + flīgō ‎(pres. act. inf.: flīgere) + -ō → prōflīgō ‎(pres. act. inf.: prōflīgāre)

Conjugation

Conjugation of -o (first conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	-ō	-ās	-at	-āmus	-ātis	-ant
	imperfect	-ābam	-ābās	-ābat	-ābāmus	-ābātis	-ābant
	future	-ābō	-ābis	-ābit	-ābimus	-ābitis	-ābunt
	perfect	-āvī	-āvistī	-āvit	-āvimus	-āvistis	-āvērunt, -āvēre
	pluperfect	-āveram	-āverās	-āverat	-āverāmus	-āverātis	-āverant
	future perfect	-āverō	-āveris	-āverit	-āverimus	-āveritis	-āverint
passive	present	-or	-āris, -āre	-ātur	-āmur	-āminī	-antur
	imperfect	-ābar	-ābāris, -ābāre	-ābātur	-ābāmur	-ābāminī	-ābantur
	future	-ābor	-āberis, -ābere	-ābitur	-ābimur	-ābiminī	-ābuntur
	perfect	-ātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	-ātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	-ātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	-em	-ēs	-et	-ēmus	-ētis	-ent
	imperfect	-ārem	-ārēs	-āret	-ārēmus	-ārētis	-ārent
	perfect	-āverim	-āverīs	-āverit	-āverīmus	-āverītis	-āverint
	pluperfect	-āvissem	-āvissēs	-āvisset	-āvissēmus	-āvissētis	-āvissent
passive	present	-er	-ēris, -ēre	-ētur	-ēmur	-ēminī	-entur
	imperfect	-ārer	-ārēris, -ārēre	-ārētur	-ārēmur	-ārēminī	-ārentur
	perfect	-ātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	-ātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	-ā	—	—	-āte	—
	future	—	-ātō	-ātō	—	-ātōte	-antō
passive	present	—	-āre	—	—	-āminī	—
	future	—	-ātor	-ātor	—	—	-antor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		-āre	-āvisse	-ātūrus esse	-ārī	-ātus esse	-ātum īrī
participles		-āns	—	-ātūrus	—	-ātus	-andus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		nominative	genitive	dative/ablative	accusative	accusative	ablative
		-āre	-andī	-andō	-andum	-ātum	-ātū

Derived terms

Category Latin verbs suffixed with -o not found

References

• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press
• “-ō³” on page 1,210/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 4

Regularly declined forms of -us.

Suffix

-ō

1. dative masculine singular of -us
2. dative neuter singular of -us
3. ablative masculine singular of -us
4. ablative neuter singular of -us

See also

• Category:Latin words suffixed with -o

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Lithuanian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *-ā; compare Latvian -a, Proto-Slavic *-a ‎(“id”). From the Proto-Indo-European thematic masculine ablative ending *-ōd, with regular Balto-Slavic loss of final d. Compare Sanskrit -आत् ‎(-āt), Latin -ō and Ancient Greek ὄπ-ω ‎(óp-ō, “whence”). In Balto-Slavic, the genitive merged with the ablative. The original genitive was retained, however, in West Baltic; compare Old Prussian -as, presumably from Proto-Indo-European *-os; compare Hittite 𒀸 ‎(-as).

Suffix

-õ

1. Used to form genitive singulars of masculine a-stem nouns.
2. Used to form genitive singulars of masculine a-stem adjectives.

Etymology 2

Suffix

-o

1. Used to form third person present tense forms in third declension verbs.
2. Used to form third person past tense forms in first declension verbs.

Etymology 3

Suffix

-õ

1. An illative suffix.

   namas → namo

Synonyms

• -op
• -on, -yn, -ėn

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Lower Sorbian

Suffix

-o

1. -ly (used to turn an adjective into an adverb of manner)

Derived terms

► Lower Sorbian words suffixed with -o

Synonyms

• -je

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Descendants

• Middle Low German: -e

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Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese -o, from Latin -um.

Suffix

-o

1. forms masculine singular nouns and adjectives

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese -o, from Latin -ō.

Suffix

-o

1. forms the first-person singular present indicative of verbs

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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)

Derived terms

► Volapük words suffixed with -o