O


[oh] /oʊ/

noun, plural O’s or Os; o’s or os or oes.
1.
the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter O or o, as in box, note, short, or love .
3.
something having the shape of an O .
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter O or o.
5.
a device, as a printer’s type, for reproducing the letter O or o.
1.
.
2.
Grammar. .
[oh] /oʊ/
interjection
1.
(used before a name in direct address, especially in solemn or poetic language, to lend earnestness to an appeal):
Hear, O Israel!
2.
(used as an expression of surprise, pain, annoyance, longing, gladness, etc.)
noun, plural O’s.
3.
the exclamation “O.”.
Symbol.
1.
the fifteenth in order or in a series.
2.
the Arabic cipher; zero.
3.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 11.
Compare .
4.
Physiology. a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group O, A, B, or AB and to receive blood from persons of group O.
Compare .
5.
Chemistry. .
6.
Logic. .
[uh, oh] /ə, oʊ/
preposition
1.
an abbreviated form of of, as in o’clock or will-o’-the-wisp.
2.
an abbreviated form of on.
1.
a prefix meaning “descendant,” in Irish family names:
O’Brien; O’Connor.
Chemistry.
1.
an abridgment of .
1.
variant of before m:
omission.
1.
variant of :
oidium.
1.
the typical ending of the first element of compounds of Greek origin (as -i-, is, in compounds of Latin origin), used regularly in forming new compounds with elements of Greek origin and often used in English as a connective irrespective of etymology:
Franco-Italian; geography; seriocomic; speedometer.
1.
a suffix occurring as the final element in informal shortenings of nouns (ammo; combo; condo; limo; promo); -o, also forms nouns, usually derogatory, for persons or things exemplifying or associated with that specified by the base noun or adjective (cheapo; pinko; sicko; weirdo; wino).
2.
a suffix occurring in colloquial noun or adjective derivatives, usually grammatically isolated, as in address:
cheerio; kiddo; neato; righto.
1.
(in prescriptions) a pint.
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6.
Baseball. out; outs.
[om-i-kron, oh-mi-] /ˈɒm ɪˌkrɒn, ˈoʊ mɪ-/
noun
1.
the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet (O, o).
2.
the vowel sound represented by this letter.
/əʊ/
noun (pl) o’s, O’s, Os
1.
the 15th letter and fourth vowel of the modern English alphabet
2.
any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in code, pot, cow, move, or form
3.
another name for nought
symbol
1.
(chem) oxygen
2.
a human blood type of the ABO group See universal donor
3.
(logic) a particular negative categorial proposition, such as some men are not married: often symbolized as SoP Compare A, E, I2
abbreviation
4.
(Austral, slang) offence
/əʊ/
interjection
1.
a variant spelling of oh
2.
an exclamation introducing an invocation, entreaty, wish, etc: O God!, O for the wings of a dove!
prefix
1.
short for ortho- (sense 4)
/ə/
preposition
1.
(informal or archaic) shortened form of of a cup o’ tea
suffix
1.
forming informal and slang variants and abbreviations, esp of nouns: wino, lie doggo, Jacko
connective vowel
1.
used to connect elements in a compound word: chromosome, filmography Compare -i-
/əʊˈmaɪkrɒn; ˈɒmɪkrɒn/
noun
1.
the 15th letter in the Greek alphabet (Ο, ο), a short vowel, transliterated as o

interjection of fear, surprise, admiration, etc.; see oh.

blood type, 1926, originally “zero,” denoting absence of A and B agglutinogens.

as a prefix in Irish names, from Irish ó, ua (Old Irish au) “descendant.”

15th letter of the Greek alphabet, literally “small ‘o,’ ” from Greek (s)mikros “small,” from PIE *smik-. Because the vowel was “short” in ancient Greek. Cf. Omega.

o
The Greek letter omicron. Entries beginning with this character are alphabetized under omicron.

O 1

The symbol for the element oxygen.

O 2
abbr.
oculus

o- abbr.
ortho- (often italic)

-o-
Used as a connective to join word elements: acidophilic.

omicron om·i·cron (ŏm’ĭ-krŏn’, ō’mĭ-)
n.

Symbol o The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
O
The symbol for oxygen.
oxygen
(ŏk’sĭ-jən)
Symbol O
A nonmetallic element that exists in its free form as a colorless, odorless gas and makes up about 21 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and occurs in many compounds, including water, carbon dioxide, and iron ore. Oxygen combines with most elements, is required for combustion, and is essential for life in most organisms. Atomic number 8; atomic weight 15.9994; melting point -218.4°C; boiling point -183.0°C; gas density at 0°C 1.429 grams per liter; valence 2. See Periodic Table.

Our Living Language : In 1786, the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier coined a term for the element oxygen (oxygène in French). He used Greek words for the coinage: oxy- means “sharp,” and -gen means “producing.” Oxygen was called the “sharp-producing” element because it was thought to be essential for making acids. Lavoisier also coined the name of the element hydrogen, the “water-producing” element, in 1788. Soon after, in 1791, another French chemist, J. A. Chaptal, introduced the word nitrogen, the “niter-producing” element, referring to its discovery from an analysis of nitric acid.

suffix

Related Terms

double-o, five-o, four-o, single-o

[1960s+; fr a humorous imitation of Spanish or Italian words, more probably Spanish because of the similar el -o pattern of coinage]

character
ASCII code 79, The letter of the alphabet, not to be confused with 0 (zero) the digit.
(1999-02-07)
1.
Latin octarius (pint)
2.
octavo
3.
ohm
1.
old
2.
Oriental (as in personal ads, but usually A, Asian)
3.
out
4.
outstanding
1.
ocean
2.
Ohio

Read Also:

  • O2

    Object-Oriented. Object-oriented database language used in the Altair project. Implemented as an interpreter. GIP Altair, Versailles, France. Francois Bancilhon et al, in Advances in Object-Oriented Database Systems, K.R. Dittrich ed, LNCS 334, Springer 1988. See CO2.

  • OA

    1. office automation. 1. on or about. 1. office automation 2. Office of Administration 3. operations agreement 4. Ophthalmology Assembly 5. osteoarthritis on or about

  • O-a

    1. on or about. on or about

  • Oaa

    1. Obstetric Anaesthetists Association 2. Otolaryngology Administration Assembly

  • Oadm

    1. Obstetric Anaesthetists Association 2. optical add/drop multiplexer 3. Otolaryngology Administration Assembly


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