okay

English Online Dictionary. What means okay‎? What does okay mean?

English

Alternative forms

• OK, O.K., okey-dokey, k, 'kay, m'kay, A-OK, otay, ok, okeh, okey, okie-dokie, kay

Etymology

A respelling of OK.

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊˈkeɪ/
  • (Ghanaian) IPA^(key): [ˌɔˈkej]
• (unstressed)
  • IPA^(key): /əˈkeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Noun

okay (plural okays)

1. Alternative spelling of OK

Verb

okay (third-person singular simple present okays, present participle okaying, simple past and past participle okayed)

1. Alternative spelling of OK

Adjective

okay (comparative more okay or okayer, superlative most okay or okayest)

1. Alternative spelling of OK

Adverb

okay (comparative more okay, superlative most okay)

1. Alternative spelling of OK

Interjection

okay

1. Alternative spelling of OK

Anagrams

• kayo, oaky, yoak

Ainu

Alternative forms

• (Saru dialect) oka

Etymology

From oka (“are”) +‎ i (nominalising suffix), literally “those which are”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ò̞ꜛkáj]

Pronoun

okay (Kana spelling オカイ)

1. they (third-person plural pronoun)

Usage notes

This word is not actually a proper pronoun, but is often used when it is absolutely necessary to point directly to a third person in conversation. The proper third-person pronoun in Ainu would be the lack of any personal pronoun at all, i.e., it has a null value.

See also

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English okay.

Interjection

okay

1. Alternative spelling of OK

German

Alternative forms

• ok, OK, o.k., O.K.

Etymology

Borrowed from English okay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈkeː/, /oˈkɛɪ̯/

Interjection

okay

1. OK

   Synonyms: alles klar, in Ordnung, (formal) d'accord, (slang) tamam

Usage notes

• The spelling okay is the most frequent in German. Abbreviations (as given above) do exist, but are less common than in English.

Adjective

okay (strong nominative masculine singular okayer, comparative okayer, superlative am okaysten)

1. (informal, chiefly predicative or adverbial) OK

   Synonyms: ordentlich, in Ordnung, akzeptabel, annehmbar, annehmlich, befriedigend, zufriedenstellend

Usage notes

• Attributive use and compared forms are fairly recent and therefore not always considered grammatical.

Declension

References

Further reading

• “okay” in Duden online
• “okay” in Duden online

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English okay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈkei/ [oˈkei̯]
• Rhymes: -ei

Interjection

okay

1. OK (endorsement; approval)

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.