ado
English
Etymology
From Northern Middle English at do (“to do”), infinitive of do, don (“to do”), see do. Influenced by an Old Norse practice of marking the infinitive by using the preposition at, att (compare Danish at gå (“to go”)). More at at, do.
Pronunciation
Noun
ado (uncountable)
- trouble; troublesome business; fuss, commotion
- c. 1596-97 William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I scene i[1]:
- Antonio:
- In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.
- It wearies me; you say it wearies you;
- But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
- What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
- I am to learn;
- And such a wantwit sadness makes of me,
- That I have much ado to know myself.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience:
- Probably a crab would be filled with a sense of personal outrage if it could hear us class it without ado or apology as a crustacean, and thus dispose of it. “I am no such thing,” it would say; “I am myself, myself alone.”
- c. 1596-97 William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I scene i[1]:
Usage notes
Ado is mostly used in set phrases, such as without further ado or much ado about nothing.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:commotion
Translations
doing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
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Translations to be checked
References
- “ado”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Clipping of adolescent.
Pronunciation
Noun
ado m or f (plural ados)
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English three-letter words
- French clippings
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
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