ho

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ho"

Translingual

Symbol

ho

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Hiri Motu.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /həʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hoʊ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: hoe, hoh

Etymology 1

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare Dutch ho, German ho, Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”).

Interjection

ho

1. (nautical) Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.

   Sail ho! ― Another boat is visible!

   Land ho! ― Land is visible!

   Man ho! ― A town is visible!

2. halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     What noise there, ho?

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]:

     Ho! who's within?

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     O ho, O ho! Would't had been done!

   • c. 1600, Joseph Hall, Satires

     Ho! all ye females that would live unshent, / Fly from the reach of Cyned's regiment.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 93:

     "That was a shot! But the captain will be glad! Ho, ho, here we are!" he cried till it was re-echoed from all the hills around.

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 11:

     "So I catch you. You stealer! Ho! Ho!"

3. (rare) Said accompanying a vigorous attack.
   • 1900, Ching Foo, the Yellow Dwarf; Or the Bradys and the Opium Smokers, page 2:

     "I'll hit you again, you thief !” he cried angrily, shaking “Ho-ho-ho!” he croaked.

   • 1955, John Sack, From Here to Shimbashi - Volume 637, page 172:

     It was quite an astonishing show. Colonel Paul Malone of the U.S. Army kept thwacking away with all his might and main, shouting "Ho!"

   • 1999, Mona the Vampire, "Attack of the Living Scarecrow" (season 1, episode 1a):

     Mona: Hee! Ha! Ho! Ha! The brain buffet is closed, buddy! Take that! And this!

   • 2008, The Answer for Laria:

     Ho! Take that vile Foresythe!” He snapped his wrist, clicking the stick against the bowed sides of a barrel.

Translations

nautical: attention grabber

• Finnish: ohoi (fi)
• Russian: эй (ru) (ej)
• Swedish: ohoj (sv), åhoj
• Ukrainian: гей (uk) (hej)

hey

• Latin: heus (la)
• Russian: гей (ru) (gej), эгей (ru) (egej), (antiquated, poetic) гой (ru) (goj) (with a second person pronoun)
• Spanish: ey (es)
• Ukrainian: гей! (uk) (hej!), аго́в! (uk) (ahóv!)

Noun

ho

1. A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.
   • 1604, Thomas Dekker, The Honest Whore:

     There is no ho with them.

References

• 1996, T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Etymology 2

Pronunciation spelling of whore in a non-rhotic accent with the dough-door merger, which is found in some varieties of African American Vernacular English. Compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”).

Alternative forms

• hoe

Noun

ho (plural hos or hoes)

2. (slang, derogatory) A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive name-calling word for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.

   Bros before hoes!

   • 2001, “Psycho”, in Toxicity, performed by Serj Tankian with System of a Down:

     So you want to see the show? You really don't have to be a ho.

   • 2010, Dennis Shields, God Went Fishing‎^[1], page 69:

     "You looking for one of my ho's?" the diminutive man asked Sigmund.
     "A hoe?" Sigmund asked, wondering why the little man wished to sell him farming equipment in the city.
     "You know, a ho. A tute. A honey, A righteous bit of poontang, my brother," he said.
     "I don't follow," Sigmund said.
     "Indubitably, I means a ho, a whore. I can tell you is a player. You want a whore?" he asked.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:promiscuous woman

Derived terms

• ho stroll

Translations

whore

• Catalan: puta (ca), prostituta (ca)
• Danish: hore c
• Dutch: hoer (nl)
• Esperanto: putino (eo)
• Finnish: horo (fi)
• French: pute (fr) f
• German: Hure (de) f
• Hungarian: kurva (hu), ribanc (hu)
• Icelandic: hóra (is) f
• Korean: 똥치 (ttongchi)
• Norwegian: hore (no) f
• Portuguese: puta (pt), prostituta (pt), vadia (pt)
• Russian: шлю́ха (ru) f (šljúxa)
• Slovak: kurva f
• Spanish: puta (es) f, prostituta (es) f
• Swedish: hora (sv) c
• Turkish: orospu (tr), fahişe (tr)
• Ukrainian: ку́рва (uk) (kúrva)

Verb

ho (third-person singular simple present hos, present participle hoing, simple past and past participle hoed)

1. To act as a ho.
   • 2003 November 18, Greywolf Johnson, “Do you know any of these? <g>”, in alt.strange.days‎^[2] (Usenet):

     She holds down a decent job during the day, but is secretly hoeing around with at least 5 different trifling men.

Etymology 3

From Middle English howe, houwe, hoȝe, from Old English hogu and hoga, from Proto-Germanic *hugô, *hugiz, *huguz (“mind, thought, understanding”), akin to Old High German hugu, hugi (Middle High German hüge), Old Saxon hugi (Middle Dutch höghe, Dutch heug), Old Norse hugr, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃 (hugs).

Alternative forms

• hoe

Noun

ho (plural hos)

1. (obsolete) Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.
   • 1567, George Turberville, “A. Sani di Cure Aunsweres”, in Heroycall Epistles of Ovid, 155v:

     Though there bee A thousand cares that heape my hoe.

   • 1798, Charlotte Turner Smith, The Young Philosopher, I. 195:

     Him that..this gentlewoman is in such a hoe about.

   • 1869-70, William Barnes, “The Widow’s House”, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect‎^[3]:

     But by day to the zun they must rise
     To their true lives o' tweil an' ov ho.

   • 1875, William Douglas Parish, A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect‎^[4] (at cited word):

     I doänt see as you've any call to putt yourself in no such terrible gurt hoe over it.

Etymology 4

From Middle English howen, hoȝen, hogien, from Old English hogian, hugian, from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną. Cognate with Middle Scots huik, Old High German hucken, Old Saxon huggjan, Dutch heugen, Old Norse hyggja, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan).

Alternative forms

• hoe

Verb

ho

1. (obsolete) To care, be anxious, long.
   • 1787, F. Grose, Provinc. Gloss (at cited word):

     To ho for anything, to long for any thing. Berks.

   • 1847-78, J. O. Halliwell, Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words:

     Ho...to long for anything; to be careful and anxious. West.

   • 1869-70, William Barnes, The Bells of Alderburnham, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:

     But still 'tis happiness to know That there's a God above us; An' he, by day an' night do ho Vor all ov us an' love us.

   • 1874, T. Hardy, Far from Madding Crowd, II. xxiii. 289:

     To ho and hanker after thik woman.

   • 1888, B. Lowsley, Gloss. Berks. Words & Phrases:

     Ho, to long for; to care greatly for.

Anagrams

• OH, Oh, oh

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin hoc. Compare Occitan o and ac.

Pronunciation

• (Eastern) IPA^(key): /u/, /əw/
• (Western) IPA^(key): /u/, /ew/, /o/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ew/, /u/, /o/

Pronoun

ho (enclitic and proclitic)

1. it (direct object); replaces the demonstrative pronouns açò, això and allò
2. replaces an independent clause (one which could grammatically form a sentence on its own)
3. replaces an adjective or an indefinite noun which serves as the predicate of ésser, esdevenir, estar or semblar

Usage notes

• Ho cannot be used with either en or hi.
• ho is the reinforced (reforçada) form of the pronoun. It is used before verbs.

  Ho sabem. ― We know that.

• -ho is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs.

  Puc fer-ho. ― I can do it.

  Deixa-ho. ― Leave it.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

	strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
singular		proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
1st person	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
1st person majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
2nd person	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
2nd person formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
2nd person very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
3rd person masculine	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
3rd person feminine	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
3rd person neuter		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
3rd person reflexive	si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
plural
1st person	nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
2nd person	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
2nd person formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person masculine	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person feminine	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive	si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive		en, n’	-ne, ’n
locative		hi	-hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural. 2) Behaves grammatically as third person.			3) Only as object of a preposition. 4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Derived terms

proclictic

• m'ho
• s'ho
• t'ho

 

enclictic

• 'ls-ho
• 'ns-ho
• -ens-ho
• -li-ho
• -los-ho
• -m'ho
• -s'ho
• -t'ho
• -us-ho
• -vos-ho

 

Chickasaw

Pronoun

ho

1. they

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦo]

Pronoun

ho m or n

1. accusative of on

   Synonym: jej

2. accusative of ono

Danish

Interjection

ho

1. (onomatopoeia) Signifies a hearty laugh.

See also

• ha, he, hi, hæ, hø, hår

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ho]
• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ho

Noun

ho (accusative singular ho-on, plural ho-oj, accusative plural ho-ojn)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter H.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) litero; a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, ŝo, to, u, ŭo, vo, zo

Interjection

ho

1. oh

See also

• hu

Finnish

Etymology

Compare Karelian ho.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈho/, [ˈho̞]
• Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification^(key): ho

Interjection

ho

1. Synonym of oho

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o/

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

ho

1. Used by tamer to calm the animal they are taming, especially horses; whoa

   Ho ! Tout doux ! ― Whoa! Easy!

2. Used to express surprise or shock

   Ho mon Dieu ! ― Oh my God!

Further reading

• “ho”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

From home (“man”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ/

Interjection

ho!

1. used closing the sentence to bolster the attention of the listener; emphatic

   Para, ho! ― Stop!

   Non o volvo facer! Non ho! ― I'm not doing this again! No way!

References

• “ho” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “ho” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “ho” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Guaraní

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ho/

Verb

ho (active, intransitive, irregular)

1. to go

   Che aháta che rógape.

   I am going home.

Conjugation

• (che) aha
• (nde) reho
• (ha'e) oho
• (ñande) jaha
• (ore) roho
• (peẽ) peho
• (ha'ekuéra) oho

Italian

Alternative forms

• o (misspelling)
• ò (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ/^*
• (some parts of Central Italy) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ/^°
• Rhymes: -ɔ

Verb

ho

1. first-person singular present indicative of avere (“I have”)

Japanese

Romanization

ho

1. Rōmaji transcription of ほ
2. Rōmaji transcription of ホ

Lower Sorbian

Preposition

ho

1. Obsolete spelling of wó

Middle English

Etymology 1

Probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call).

Alternative forms

• hoo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔː/

Interjection

ho

1. stop, hold

Descendants

• English: ho
• Yola: ho

References

• “hō, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

ho

1. Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)

Etymology 3

Pronoun

ho

1. Alternative form of he (“he”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

ho

1. Alternative form of heo (“she”)

Etymology 5

Pronoun

ho

1. Alternative form of he (“they”)

Etymology 6

Noun

ho

1. Alternative form of hough (“hough, hock”)

Etymology 7

Noun

ho

1. Alternative form of hough (“promontory”)

Etymology 8

Noun

ho

1. Alternative form of oo (“one”)

Muong

Alternative forms

• hò

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔ¹/

Pronoun

ho

1. (Mường Bi) I; me

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse hon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huː/

Pronoun

ho (accusative henne, genitive hennes)

1. (nonstandard, dialectal) she (form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by hun)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huː/, [hu̞ː]
• (Selbu) IPA^(key): [hũ̞ː]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hón, from Proto-Germanic *hēnō (compare *ainaz). Cognate with Icelandic hún, Danish hun and Swedish hon.

Alternative forms

Dialects

• hu
• hon, hun (nfj, with stress)
• hon (Bergensk)
• hån (Saltenmål, with stress)
• hona (hal, vald, with stress)
• ’a (east, trø, without stress)

Pronoun

ho (accusative ho or henne, genitive hennar)

Pronoun

ho

1. she, it (third person singular, feminine)

   Ho er bestevenninna mi. ― She is my best friend.

2. her

   Eg ser ho. ― I see her.

   Synonym: henne

Usage notes

Unlike other Scandinavian languages, Nynorsk ho is used to refer not only to feminine persons, but any feminine noun. E.g.: Boka er god. Eg likar ho. (“The book is good. I like it.”)

See also

Norwegian Nynorsk personal pronouns

person	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
case	singular			singular masculine	singular feminine	singular neuter
nominative	eg, je1	du		han	ho	det, dat2
accusative	meg	deg	seg	han, honom2	ho, henne2	det, dat2
dative2	meg	deg	seg	honom	henne	di2
genitive	min	din	sin	hans	hennar, hennes1	dess3
case	plural
nominative	me, vi	de, dokker			dei
accusative	oss, okk	dykk, dokker	seg		dei, deim2
dative	oss, okk	dykk, dokker	seg		deim2
genitive	vår, okkar	dykkar, dokkar	sin		deira, deires1

¹Obsolete. ²Landsmål. ³Rare or literary. Cursive forms unofficial today.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• hoe

Noun

ho f (definite singular hoa, indefinite plural hoer, definite plural hoene)

1. female

   Hoa legg egga oppe i eit tre. ― The female lays the eggs up in a tree.

References

• “ho” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Irish

Conjunction

ho

1. Alternative spelling of ó

Preposition

ho

1. Alternative spelling of ó

Orya

Noun

ho

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 110

Romanian

Interjection

ho

1. Used to calm or stop a domestic animal, especially horses; whoa.

   Ho ! Ușor ! ― Whoa! Easy!

2. (vulgar) Used to calm down a person.

   Ho! Nu mai țipa ! ― Ho! Stop screaming!

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɦo]

Pronoun

ho

1. short genitive/accusative singular of on
2. short genitive/accusative singular of ono

Synonyms

• (long form): jeho
• (prepositional form): neho

Soqotri

Pronoun

ho

1. I

Swedish

Etymology 1

Noun

ho c

1. a trough; a long container for feeding or watering animals.
2. a sink; often mounted to a wall; especially a kitchen sink or a washing sink.

   Synonym: diskho

Declension

Declension of ho
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ho	hon	hoar	hoarna
Genitive	hos	hons	hoars	hoarnas

Derived terms

• diskho
• tvättho

 

See also

• slasktratt (“sink (for discharging wastewater)”)

Etymology 2

See vem.

Pronoun

ho

1. (archaic) who
   • 1541, Gustav Vasa Bible, Esaiah, 40:13-14

     Hoo vnderwisar HERRANS anda/ och hwadh rådhgiffuare lärer honom? Hwem fråghar han om rådh, then honom förstånd giffuer/ och lärer honom rettzens wägh/ och lärer honom klookheet och wijsar honom förståndzens wägh?

     (1873 edition) Ho undervisar Herrans Anda; och hvad rådgifvare lärer honom? Hvem frågar han om råd, den honom förstånd gifver, och lärer honom rättsens väg, och lärer honom klokhet, och viser honom förståndsens väg?

     Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

   Ho äst du?

   Who art thou?

Usage notes

In earlier Swedish, ho was the nominative form of vem (hvem), corresponding to the difference between English who and whom. Unlike in English, where the oblique form is being replaced by the nominative, the reverse has happened in Swedish.

Related terms

• vem

Etymology 3

Dialectal form of hon, with identical meaning.

Pronoun

ho

1. (dialectal) she

Tagalog

Pronunciation 1

• IPA^(key): /ˈhoʔ/, [ˈhoʔ]

Particle

hô (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜓ)

1. (familiar) honorific particle used while speaking to one's superior, elder, or guest

   Taga-saan naman ho kayo? ― Where are you from, sir/madam?

   Synonym: po

Usage notes

The word ho is used more on informal, familiar or conversational contexts than po.

Derived terms

• huhuan
• huhuin

 

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): /ˈho/, [ˈho]

Interjection

ho (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜓ)

1. used to stop a horse, usually repeated

See also

• la

Tircul

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɔː/

Numeral

1. 3 (three)

See also

• (Pyu digits):           

Toba Batak

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)kahu, compare Malay kau and Tetum ó.

Pronoun

ho

1. you

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *hɔː.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [hɔ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [hɔ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [hɔ˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội)

  (file)

Verb

ho • (呼, 𤵡)

1. to cough

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ho hen

 

Warao

Noun

ho

1. water

Descendants

• Hosororo

References

• Languages of hunter-gatherers and their neighbors, citing Andrés Romero-Figueroa, Warao, Lincom Studies in Native American Linguistics 06 (1997, Munich/ Newcastle: Lincom Europa)

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English ho, from Old Norse hó.

Interjection

ho

1. ho
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 13:

     Ha-ho! be mee coshes, th'ast ee-pait it, co Joane;

     Hey-ho! by my conscience, you have paid it, quoth John;

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 90

Yoruba

Omi tó ń hó

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hó/

Verb

hó

1. (transitive, of liquids) to boil
2. (intransitive, of liquids) to become gaseous, to become boiled
3. to form bubbles or lather
4. to roar with noise

   òkún ń hó yee; ọ̀sà ń mì lẹ̀gbẹ̀ ― The sea was roaring; the lagoon was swaying majestically

Derived terms

• èhó (“something that is boiled”)
• híhó (“boiling”)
• hógùdùgùdù
• hóyaya
• ìhó (“the act of boiling”)

 

Related terms

• bọ́ (“to cook in boiling water”)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• fó (Ìgbómìnà)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hó/

Verb

hó

1. (transitive) to peel off the skin or bark of something

   Synonym: bó

Derived terms

• ahó
• híhó (“peeling”)
• hójẹ
• hóṣu (“to peel yam”)
• ìhó (“the act of peeling”)

 

Zhuang

Etymology

Cognate with Bouyei hol (“garlic”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /ho˨˦/
• Tone numbers: ho¹
• Hyphenation: ho

Noun

ho (1957–1982 spelling ho)

1. garlic

   Synonym: suenq

Derived terms

• gyaeujho