woo

See also: Woo

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: wo͞o, IPA^(key): /wuː/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline (some)one toward oneself". If so, then derived from Proto-Germanic *wanhō (“a bend, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wonk- (“crooked, bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *wā- (“to bend, twist, turn”); related to Old Norse vá (“corner, angle”).

Alternative forms

• wo, wow, wowe (obsolete)

Verb

woo (third-person singular simple present woos, present participle wooing, simple past and past participle wooed)

1. (transitive) To endeavor to gain someone's support.
2. (transitive) (often of a man) To try to persuade someone to marry oneself; to solicit in love.
   • (Can we date this quote by Prior and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Each, like the Grecian artist, wooes / The image he himself has wrought.

   • 1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC; 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], 1594, →OCLC, [verse 17], lines [97–100]:

     I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]

3. (transitive) To court solicitously; to invite with importunity.
   • (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Thee, chantress, oft the woods among / I woo, to hear thy even song.

   • (Can we date this quote by Bryant and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     I woo the wind / That still delays his coming.

Synonyms

• court

Derived terms

• wooer

Translations

to endeavor to gain someone's affection

• Arabic: تَوَدَّدَ (tawaddada)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 追求 (zh) (zhuīqiú), 求愛／求爱 (zh) (qiú'ài), 求爱 (zh) (qiú'ài)

• Czech: dvořit se
• Danish: kurtisere
• Dutch: het hof maken
• Esperanto: amindumi (eo)
• Finnish: kosiskella (fi), riiata (fi), vokotella (fi)
• French: courtiser (fr), faire la cour (à) (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: den Hof machen, umwerben (de)
• Greek: κορτάρω (el) (kortáro)

  Ancient Greek: μνηστεύω (mnēsteúō)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: udvarol (hu)
• Ido: kurtezar (io)
• Italian: corteggiare (it)
• Japanese: 求愛する (ja) (きゅうあいする, kyūai surú)
• Maori: aruaru, whakaipo, whaipo, whakawhaipo, mātoro
• Portuguese: cortejar (pt)
• Romanian: curta (ro)
• Russian: уха́живать (ru) impf (uxáživatʹ), сва́таться (ru) impf (svátatʹsja), добива́ться расположе́ния impf (dobivátʹsja raspoložénija)
• Serbo-Croatian: snubiti (sh)
• Spanish: cortejar (es), (Chile, informal) pololear (es), (Chile, slang) jotear (es), doñear (es)
• Swedish: uppvakta (sv), kurtisera (sv), svärma
• Turkish: kur yapmak (tr), (slang) yazmak (tr), (slang) asılmak (tr)

Etymology 2

Interjection

woo

1. (slang) Expressing joy or mirth; woohoo, yahoo.

   "I got you a new cell phone." "Woo, that's great!"

Etymology 3

Adjective

woo (comparative more woo, superlative most woo)

1. Alternative form of woo woo

Noun

woo

1. Alternative form of woo woo

Anagrams

• OWO

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• wo, wa

Etymology

From Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-Germanic *wai, from Proto-Indo-European *wai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɔː/
• Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

woo (plural woos)

1. woe, torment, anguish

Synonyms

• angwissh
• we

Descendants

• English: woe
• Scots: wa, wae