OK

See also: ok, Ok, -ok, ók, òk, ők, and Appendix:Variations of "ok"

🆗 U+1F197, 🆗 SQUARED OK ← 🆖 [U+1F196] Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement 🆘 → [U+1F198]

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌəˈkæɪ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊˈkeɪ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Etymology 1

Unknown. Wikipedia lists several possibilities, of which the most widely accepted is that it is an abbreviation of "oll korrect", a comical spelling of "all correct" which first appeared in print in The Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, as part of a fad for similar fanciful abbreviations in the United States during the late 1830s. However, this theory suffers from the fact that the modern OK has several meanings; all correct being an accurate substitution for almost none of them. The Choctaw word okeh (“it is so”), common in Choctaw translations of the Bible, could better explain ok's variety of weakly affirmative definitions. Additionally, okeh was the most common etymology of okay in dictionaries until the 1960's, and linguistically predates Boston's O.K. However, this theory suffers from the fact that the Choctaw language was relatively obscure, generally spoken (sometimes in a pidgin form) mainly with African-American slaves.

Alternative forms

• O.K., o.k., ok, okay, O. K., o. k., okeh, okey

Noun

OK (plural OKs)

1. Endorsement; approval.

   We can start as soon as we get the OK.

Synonyms

• (endorsement or approval): approval, endorsement, green light, thumbs up, go-ahead

Translations

endorsement; approval

• Amharic: እሺ (ʾəši), በቃ (bäḳa)
• Arabic: حَسَنًا‎‎ (ḥasanan), أُوكِي‎‎ (ʾokey), أُوكَي‎‎ (ʾukay)
• Armenian: լավ (hy) (lav), բարի (hy) (bari)
• Catalan: d'acord
• Chechen: дика ду (dika du)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: OK (zh) (ōukēi), 好 (zh) (hǎo), 行 (zh) (xíng), 可以 (zh) (kěyǐ)

• Czech: dobře (cs)
• Dutch: oké (nl), groen licht (nl), goedkeuring (nl)
• Esperanto: okej
• Estonian: OK okei, olgu, hästi (et), davai
• Finnish: OK (fi), okei (fi), hyväksyntä (fi), kuittaus (fi)
• French: OK (fr) m, accord (fr) m, feu vert (fr) m, bénédiction (fr) (colloquial)
• Galician: de acordo
• Georgian: კაი (ka) (ḳai), კარგი (ka) (ḳargi), კეთილი (ḳetili)
• German: in Ordnung, gut (de), okay (de), OK (de)
• Greek: εντάξει (el) (entáxei)
• Hebrew: אוֹקֵי‎‎ (he) (okéy), טוֹב‎‎ (he) (tov), בְּסֵדֶר‎‎ (beséder)
• Hindi: ठीक (hi) (ṭhīk), ओके (oke)

• Hungarian: OK (hu), oké (hu)
• Italian: ok (it)
• Japanese: オーケー (ja) (ōkē), よし (ja) (yoshi), はい (ja) (hai), 分かった (わかった, wakatta), 了解 (ja) (りょうかい, ryōkai), オッケー (ja) (okkē), りょ (ryo)
• Korean: 오케이 (okei), 괜찮아 (gwaenchana)
• Macedonian: в ред (v red), до́бро (dóbro), ва́жи (váži), оке́ј (okéj)
• Norwegian: alt i orden
• Pashto: ښه‎‎ (ps) (ẍa)
• Polish: w porządku (pl), okej (pl), dobrze (pl)
• Portuguese: ok (pt), certo (pt), tá (pt), tá bom (pt)
• Punjabi: ਠੀਕ (pa) (ṭhīk)
• Russian: ла́дно (ru) (ládno), хорошо́ (ru) (xorošó), оке́й (ru) (okéj), одобре́ние (ru) n (odobrénije), добро́ (ru) n (dobró), согла́сие (ru) n (soglásije)
• Slovak: súhlas m
• Spanish: aprobación (es), visto bueno, okey (es)
• Swedish: okej (sv), ok (sv)
• Thai: ก็ได้ (gɔ̂ɔ-dâai), โอเค (th) (oo-kee)
• Turkish: OK (tr), okey (tr), olur (tr), peki (tr), tamam (tr)
• Ukrainian: оке́й (okéj), до́бре (uk) (dóbre), пра́вильне (právylʹne), гара́зд (harázd)
• Vietnamese: tốt (vi), được (vi)
• Welsh: caniatâd m

Verb

OK (third-person singular simple present OKs, present participle OKing, simple past and past participle OKed)

1. To approve.

   I don't want to OK this amount of money.

2. (computing) To confirm by activating a button marked OK.
   • 2001, Mike Collins, Pro Tools: Practical Recording, Editing and Mixing for Music Production

     Type a suitable name for your Marker and OK the dialogue box.

   • 2008, Martin Evening, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers

     When you OK the crop, the image size will be adjusted to match the front image resolution.

Synonyms

• approve
• greenlight

Translations

approve

• Finnish: hyväksyä (fi)
• French: approuver (fr), donner le/son feu vert pour (fr), donner son accord pour (fr), donner son aval pour (fr), avaliser (fr)
• German: genehmigen (de), absegnen (de)

• Swedish: godkänna (sv)
• Welsh: cymeradwyo (cy)

(computing) activate the OK button

• Finnish: hyväksyä (fi)
• French: valider (fr)
• German: OK (de)
• Spanish: aceptar (es)

• Swedish: OK (sv)
• Thai: ตกลง (th) (dtòk-long)
• Welsh: clicio "iawn"

Adjective

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)

1. All right, permitted.

   Do you think it's OK to stay here for the night?

2. Satisfactory, reasonably good; not exceptional.

   The soup was OK, but the dessert was excellent.

3. In good health or a good emotional state.

   He's not feeling well now, but he should be OK after some rest.

Synonyms

• (all right, permissible): allowed, all right, permissible
• (satisfactory): adequate, all right, not bad, satisfactory
• (in good health or a good emotional state): fine, well

Antonyms

• (all right, permissible): forbidden
• (satisfactory): bad, inadequate, poor, unsatisfactory
• (in good health or a good emotional state): ill, poorly, sick, under the weather, unwell

Translations

all right, permitted

• American Sign Language: O@Side-PalmForward K@Side-PalmForward
• Amharic: እሺ (ʾəši)
• Arabic: حَسَنًا‎‎ (ḥasanan), صَحِيح‎‎ (ar) (ṣaḥīḥ), طَيِّب‎‎ (ṭayyib), أُوكَي‎‎ (ʾokay), أُوكَي‎‎ (ʾukay)
• Catalan: d'acord
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: OK (zh) (ōukēi), 好 (zh) (hǎo), 行 (zh) (xíng), 可以 (zh) (kěyǐ), 沒事 (zh), 没事 (zh) (méishì)

• Dutch: oké (nl)
• Estonian: hästi (et), okei
• Faroese: alt í lagi
• Finnish: OK (fi), okei (fi)
• French: permis (fr), bien (fr), (be OK) pouvoir (fr) (verb), (be OK) avoir le droit de (verb)
• German: Okay, OK (de), Gut (de), in Ordnung
• Hebrew: או. קיי.‎‎, בסדר‎‎ (beseder)
• Hindi: ओके (oke)
• Hungarian: oké (hu)
• Icelandic: allt í lagi (is), ókei
• Irish: ceart go leor
• Italian: (be OK) andare bene (verb)

• Japanese: オーケー (ja) (ōkē), よし (ja) (yoshi), はい (ja), 大丈夫 (ja) (だいじょうぶ, daijōbu), OK (ja) (ōkē)
• Khmer: អូខី (ʾoukhəy)
• Korean: 오케이 (okei), 괜찮다 (ko) (gwaenchanta)
• Lao: ເວີຽ (wœ̄i)
• Macedonian: в ред (v red), до́бро (dóbro), оке́ј (okéj)
• Mongolian: болно (mn) (bolno)
• Portuguese: OK (pt) m
• Russian: ла́дно (ru) (ládno), хорошо́ (ru) (xorošó), оке́й (ru) (okéj)
• Slovak: (byť) v poriadku
• Spanish: bien (es)
• Swedish: okej (sv)
• Tagalog: sige
• Thai: โอเค (th) (oo-kee)
• Turkish: peki (tr)
• Ukrainian: оке́й (okéj), до́бре (uk) (dóbre)
• Vietnamese: được (vi), tốt (vi)
• Welsh: iawn (cy)

satisfactory

• American Sign Language: O@Side-PalmForward K@Side-PalmForward
• Cornish: da lowr
• Estonian: sobib, korras, kombes okei
• Finnish: okei (fi)
• French: acceptable (fr), passable (fr), correct (fr), assez bon, plutôt bon, (be OK) pouvoir aller (verb), (be OK) pouvoir passer (verb), pas mal (fr)
• Georgian: კაი (ka) (ḳai)
• German: alles in Ordnung
• Hebrew: בסדר‎‎ (beséder), סביר‎‎ (savír)

• Korean: 괜찮다 (ko) (gwaenchanta)
• Macedonian: добар m (dóbar), океј (okéj), в ред (v red)
• Portuguese: bom (pt)
• Russian: норма́льно (ru) (normálʹno)
• Spanish: aceptable (es), bueno (es), bien (es)
• Swedish: okej (sv)
• Vietnamese: được (vi), đâu vào đấy, OK (vi), ổn (vi)
• Welsh: iawn (cy)

in good health or in a good emotional state

• Amharic: ደህና (dähna), ደሕና (däḥna), ደኅና (däḫna)
• Arabic: بِخَيْر‎‎ (bi-ḵayr), أُوكَي‎‎ (ʾokay), أُوكَي‎‎ (ʾukay)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 沒事 (zh), 没事 (zh) (méishì), 好 (zh) (hǎo), OK (zh) (ōukēi)

• Estonian: hästi (et)
• Finnish: okei (fi)
• French: (be OK) aller bien/mieux (verb), (be OK) ça va (fr)
• Georgian: კაი (ka) (ḳai)
• German: in Ordnung (sein), alles in Ordnung (sein), OK (de),
• Hindi: ठीक (hi) (ṭhīk)
• Italian: (be OK): stare bene (verb)

• Japanese: 大丈夫 (ja) (だいじょうぶ, daijōbu), オーケー (ja) (ōkē), OK (ja) (ōkē)
• Korean: 괜찮다 (ko) (gwaenchanta)
• Latin: (be in good health) salvēre (verb)
• Macedonian: до́бро (dóbro), в ред (v red)
• Portuguese: bem (pt)
• Russian: быть в поря́дке (bytʹ v porjádke), всё в поря́дке (vsjó v porjádke), оке́й (ru) (okéj), ОК (OK)
• Spanish: bien (es)
• Swedish: bra (sv), okej (sv)
• Vietnamese: khỏe (vi)
• Welsh: iawn (cy)

Adverb

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)

1. Satisfactorily, sufficiently well.

   The team did OK in the playoffs.

Synonyms

• (satisfactorily): adequately, satisfactorily

Antonyms

• (satisfactorily): badly, inadequately, poorly, unsatisfactorily

Translations

OK

• Dutch: oké/oke, goed
• Finnish: hyvin (fi), okei (fi)
• French: correctement (fr), convenablement (fr), pas mal (fr), assez bien
• Lao: ຈົບ (chop), ເອົາລະ (’ao la), ເອົາເທາະ (’ao thǫ)
• Portuguese: bem (pt)

• Russian: оке́й (ru) (okéj), хорошо́ (ru) (xorošó)
• Slovak: dobre
• Slovene: v redu
• Swedish: okej (sv)
• Welsh: yn iawn

Interjection

OK

1. Used to indicate acknowledgement or acceptance.

   I promise to give it back. Reply: OK.

   Let's meet again this afternoon. Reply: OK.

   Shut up! Reply: OK, OK.

2. An utterance expressing exasperation, similar to "all right!"

   OK! I get it! Stop nagging me!

3. Used to introduce a sentence in order to draw attention to the importance of what is being said.

   OK, I'm thinking of a number...

Synonyms

• (acknowledgement or acceptance): okey-dokey, okeh, okey; k, 'kay, m'kay; A-OK; all right
• (sentence introduction): now, now then

Translations

acknowledgement or acceptance

• Amharic: እሺ (ʾəši)
• Arabic: طَيِّب‎‎ (ṭayyib)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 好 (zh) (hǎo), 明白了 (míngbái le), 知道了 (zh) (zhīdào le), OK (zh)

• Czech: OK (cs)
• Finnish: okei (fi), selvä (fi)
• French: OK (fr), d'accord (fr), entendu (fr)
• Georgian: კაი (ka) (ḳai)
• German: okay (de)
• Hebrew: בסדר‎‎ (beséder), טוב‎‎ (he) (tov)
• Hungarian: rendben (hu), oké (hu)
• Icelandic: ókei
• Irish: ceart go leor
• Italian: OK (it), va bene, d'accordo
• Japanese: 畏まりました (kashikomarimashita) (very formal, see 分かる), 了解 (ja) (ryōkai)
• Khmer: អូខី (ʾoukhəy)
• Korean: 알겠어요 (algesseoyo) (very formal, see 알다)

• Ladino: peki
• Lao: ເອີ (’œ̄), ເອົາເຖີດ (’ao thœ̄t)
• Latin: placet
• Malay: baik, okey
• Maori: tēnā
• Navajo: hágoóneeʼ
• Pashto: ښه‎‎ (ps) (ẍa)
• Persian: باشه‎‎ (fa) (bấše)
• Portuguese: OK (pt), tudo bem (pt), certo (pt)
• Romanian: bine (ro)
• Russian: ла́дно (ru) (ládno), хорошо́ (ru) (xorošó), оке́й (ru) (okéj)
• Slovak: dobre, v poriadku
• Spanish: vale (es), de acuerdo (es), okey (es)
• Swedish: okej (sv), ok (sv), okey (sv), visst (sv)
• Thai: โอเค (th) (oo-kee)
• Turkish: tamam (tr)
• Welsh: iawn (cy), o'r gorau

utterance expressing exasperation

• Finnish: okei (fi), no niin
• French: OK (fr), d'accord (fr), c'est bon

• Swedish: bra (sv), okej (sv)
• Welsh: iawn (cy), o'r gorau

introduction of a sentence in order to draw attention

• Arabic: طَيِّب‎‎ (ṭayyib), يَعْنِي‎‎ (yaʿnī)
• Finnish: okei (fi), no iin
• French: bon (fr), OK (fr), d'accord (fr)
• Hungarian: szóval

• Slovak: takže
• Swedish: okej (sv)
• Welsh: iawn (cy), o'r gorau, reit

Derived terms

term derived from OK

• okay
• okey-dokey
• k

• 'kay
• m'kay
• A-OK
• kthxbye

See also

• oll korrect
• 👌
• Wikipedia article on "okay"
• Wikipedia article on the "OK" hand gesture
• Wikipedia article on "A-OK" and the hand gesture

References

• How 'OK' took over the world, Allan Metcalf, BBC News Magazine (2011 February 18)
• The ‘O’ Word, Roy Blount, Jr., The New York Times Sunday Book Review (2010 November 19)
• OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word, Allan Metcalf, Oxford University Press (2010)
• Jim Fay (16 September 2009), “The Choctaw Expression "Okeh" and the Americanism "Okay"”, in Illinoisprairie.info‎^[1], archived from the original on 24 December 2010.
• Allen Read, the Expert of 'O.K.,' Dies at 96, Douglas Martin, The New York Times Obituaries (2002 October 18)
• What does "OK" stand for?, Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope (1985)

Etymology 2

Proper noun

OK

1. United States postal abbreviation for Oklahoma, a state of the United States of America.

Alternative forms

• (Oklahoma): OK., Ok., Ok

Synonyms

• (Oklahoma): Oklahoma, Okla, Okla.

Anagrams

• KO, ko

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Chinese

Alternative forms

• 歐克／欧克 (ōukè) (one of the ways to transliterate into Chinese characters)

Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ōukèi, ōukēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄡ ㄎㄟˋ, ㄡ ㄎㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ou¹ kei¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: OK
    • Zhuyin: ㄡ ㄎㄟˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: oukey
    • IPA ^(key): /ˀoʊ̯⁵⁵ kʰeɪ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: ōukēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄡ ㄎㄟ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: oukei
    • IPA ^(key): /ˀoʊ̯⁵⁵ kʰeɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ou¹ kei¹
    • Yale: ōu kēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ou¹ kei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ou¹ kéi¹
    • IPA ^(key): /ou̯⁵⁵ kʰei̯⁵⁵/

Adjective

OK

1. (colloquial, nonstandard) alright

   • 「70%咖啡OK嗎？」 [MSC, trad.]
     “70%咖啡OK吗？” [MSC, simp.]

     From: 夏渥客, 11樓 - Page 90

     “70% kāfēi OK ma?” [Pinyin]

     "Is 70% coffee alright?"

   你OK嗎？ / 你OK吗？  ―  Nǐ ōukèi ma?  ―  Are you OK?

   你O唔OK啊？ [Cantonese]  ―  Nei⁵ ou¹ m⁴ ou¹ kei¹ aa¹? [Jyutping]  ―  Are you OK?

Interjection

OK

1. (colloquial, nonstandard) OK

   上頭說OK就OK了。 / 上头说OK就OK了。  ―  Shàngtou shuō ōukèi jiù ōukèi le.  ―  If higher authorities say "OK", it means "OK".

Usage notes

• Using Roman letters in a Chinese running text is frowned upon by many purists and not supported by language policies of Chinese speaking areas, but a limited number of words in Roman script in all capitals have entered Chinese dictionaries and mainstream Chinese literature.
• In transcribing speech synonyms are often used instead of "OK", e.g. 好 (hǎo), 行 (xíng).

Synonyms

• 好 (hǎo), 好的 (hǎo de), 好吧 (hǎo ba)
• 行 (xíng)

See also

• 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi)
• OK繃／OK绷 (ōukēibèng)

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Japanese

Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) オ​ーケー [óꜜòkèè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) オー​ケー [òóꜜkèè] (Nakadaka – [2])
• (Tokyo) オーケ​ー [òókéꜜè] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [o̞ːke̞ː]

• (Tokyo) オ​ッケー [óꜜkkèè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [o̞k̚ke̞ː]

Noun

OK (katakana オーケー, rōmaji ōkē, alternative reading オッケー, rōmaji okkē)

1. agreement; approval
   • 2009 January 10, Ohba, Tsugumi; Obata, Takeshi, “３ページ ペンとネーム [Page 3: Pens and Names]”, in BAKUMAN。バクマン。 [BAKUMAN.], volume 1 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 104:

     これか　これがネームか　マンガ賞 (しょう)の募 (ぼ)集 (しゅう)ページとかで目 (め)にした事 (こと)あるけど

     Kore ka Kore ga nēmu ka Mangashō no boshū pēji toka de me ni shita koto aru kedo

     So this is a name, huh? I’ve seen one on some application page for a manga award

     マンガの下 (した)描 (が)きみたいなもん　まずこれを描 (か)いて編 (へん)集 (しゅう)者 (しゃ)に見 (み)せてＯＫ (オーケー)が出 (で)たら初 (はじ)めて原 (げん)稿 (こう)にできるＯＫ (オーケー)が出 (で)るまでは何 (なん)度 (ど)でも描 (か)き直 (なお)し　もっともネームで見 (み)せていいのはマンガ家 (か)としての才 (さい)能 (のう)を認 (みと)められた奴 (やつ)な

     Manga no shitagaki mitai na mon Mazu kore o kaite henshūsha ni misete ōkē ga detara hajimete genkō ni dekiru ōkē ga deru made wa nando demo kakinaoshi Motto mo nēmu de misete ii no wa mangaka toshite no sainō o mitomerareta yatsu na

     It’s basically a rough sketch for manga. First you make one and show it to the editor, and only if it’s OK’d can you go ahead with the draft. You may have to do it over a couple of times ‘til it gets OK’d. Though good mangaka can just pass with the name alone.

2. no problem

Antonyms

• NG (エヌジー) (enujī)

Adjective

OK (-na inflection, katakana オーケー, rōmaji ōkē, alternative reading オッケー, rōmaji okkē)

1. OK; all right; fine

Interjection

OK (katakana オーケー, rōmaji ōkē, alternative reading オッケー, rōmaji okkē)

1. OK
   • 2009 August 25, Amano, Kozue, “第だい２話わ 夢ゆめヶ丘おか高こう校こう [Chapter 2: Yumegaoka High School]”, in あまんちゅ！ＡＭＡＮＣＨＵ！ [AMANCHU!], volume 1 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Mag Garden, →ISBN, pages 33–38:

     その1「準 (じゅん)備 (び)」っ　Ｏ (オッ)Ｋ (ケー)‼その2「位 (い)置 (ち)」っ　お家 (うち)の玄 (げん)関 (かん)　Ｏ (オッ)Ｋ (ケー)‼その3「時 (じ)間 (かん)」っ　7時 (じ)30分 (ぶん)　Ｏ (オッ)Ｋ (ケー)‼その4「空 (くう)気 (かん)」っ…………ピッ　Ｏ (オッ)Ｋ (ケー)‼その5「行 (こう)動 (どう)」っ　レッツらゴ——！Ｏ (オッ)Ｋ (ケー)‼

     Sono ichi “Junbi”h okkē‼ Sono ni “ichi”h Ouchi no genkan okkē‼ Sono san “Jikan”h Shichi-ji sanjū-bun okkē‼ Sono yon “Kūki”h………… Pih okkē‼ Sono go “Kōdō”h Rettsu ra go——! Okkē‼

     Number 1 “Preparation”, check‼ Number 2 “Location”: Entryway, check‼ Number 3 “Time”: 7:30, check‼ Number 4 “Air”………… Hwee, check‼ Number 5 “Action”: Let’s la go——! Check‼

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Korean

Etymology

From English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key)[o̞kʰe̞i]
• Phonetic Hangul[오케이]

Revised Romanization? okei Revised Romanization (translit.)? okei McCune–Reischauer? ok'ei Yale Romanization? okheyi

Noun

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

1. (colloquial) good

Antonyms

• NG

Interjection

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)

1. (colloquial) OK

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• ok, Ok

Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌɔ.ˈkej/, /ˌo.ˈkej/

Interjection

OK

1. OK (indicates acknowledgement or acceptance)

Synonyms

• tudo bem, certo

Noun

OK m (plural OKs)

1. OK (an indication of acknowledgement or acceptance)

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Swedish

Adverb

OK

1. OK, okay

Synonyms

• okej

Adjective

OK

1. OK, okay

Synonyms

• okej

Interjection

OK

1. OK, okay

Synonyms

• okej