ou

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

English

Etymology 1

From Hawaiian ʻōʻū.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.uː/

Noun

ou (plural ous)

1. A probably extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, Psittirostra psittacea.

Translations

Further reading

• Psittirostra psittacea on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Psittirostra psittacea on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Psittirostra psittacea on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 2

From Afrikaans ou, probably from Dutch ouwe (“old man”).

Pronunciation

• (General South African, UK) IPA^(key): /əʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ, -oʊ

Noun

ou (plural ous or ouens)

1. (South Africa, colloquial) A fellow, guy, bloke. [from 20th c.]

Anagrams

• UO, U&O

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /œu/

Etymology 1

Probably from ouwe, from Dutch oude

Noun

ou (plural ouens, diminutive outjie)

1. an old fellow, guy, bloke

   Synonym: kêrel

Etymology 2

From Dutch ouwe.

Adjective

ou

1. attributive form of oud

Aneme Wake

Noun

ou

1. cloud

Aromanian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum. Compare Romanian ou.

Noun

ou n (plural oauã, definite singular oulu, definite plural oauãli)

1. egg

Derived terms

• oauã / ou

Etymology 2

Verb based on etymology 1.

Verb

ou first-singular present indicative (past participle uoatã)

1. Alternative form of oauã to lay an egg (like a hen)

Related terms

• uoari / uoare
• uoat

Bonggi

Pronoun

ou

1. I

References

• Michael Boutin, A role and reference grammar account of Bonggi adversative constructions, A Mosaic of languages and cultures: studies celebrating the career of Karl J. Franklin (2010)

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum, from Classical Latin ōvum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɔw]
• Rhymes: -ɔw

Noun

ou m (plural ous)

1. egg
2. (colloquial) ball, testicle

References

• “ou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ou”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “ou” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈow]

Interjection

ou

1. (Mallorca, Menorca) whoa! (command to an animal to stop)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɔw]

Verb

ou

1. (Valencia, Northern Calatan) inflection of oir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Estonian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

ou

1. (colloquial) oi!, hey!, used for calling out to someone

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin aut.

Conjunction

ou (ORB, broad)

1. or

References

• ou in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• ou in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French ou, from Latin aut.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/
• Rhymes: -u
• Homophones: août, où, houe, houes, houx

Conjunction

ou

1. or
2. either...or

Derived terms

• ou bien

See also

• où ("where")
• et
• soit

References

Further reading

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

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese ou, from Latin aut.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ow]

Conjunction

ou

1. or

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈoːw]

Interjection

ou!

1. whoa! (order for cattle)

   Synonym: xo

2. oh! (vocative)

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ou”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ou”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ou”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ou”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Haitian Creole

Etymology

Possibly from French vous (“you”)

Pronunciation

1. IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

ou (upper case Ou)

1. A letter of the Haitian Creole alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronoun

ou (contracted form w)

1. you (singular)

Hawaiian

Pronoun

ou

1. yours, your Second person singular possessive, o-type.

Usage notes

• Used after negatives, numbers, locative nouns, certain prepositions, and after nouns preceded by an article or a k-determiner.

Related terms

• kou

Italian

Interjection

ou

1. (usually impolite) used to get someone's attention; oi, hey

   Ou, mi stai ascoltando? ― Oi, are you listening to me?

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English how.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ou/

Adverb

ou

1. how

Japanese

Romanization

ou

1. Rōmaji transcription of おう

Mandarin

Romanization

ou (ou⁵／ou⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄡ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of cmn, 嘔／呕

Romanization

ou

1. Nonstandard spelling of ōu.
2. Nonstandard spelling of óu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of ǒu.
4. Nonstandard spelling of òu.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mauritian Creole

Alternative forms

• u

Etymology

Probably from French vous; compare Haitian Creole ou.

Pronoun

ou (informal to)

1. you (second-person singular formal personal pronoun)

See also

Megleno-Romanian

Noun

ou n (plural uauă)

1. Alternative form of uou

Middle English

Pronoun

ou

1. Alternative form of yow

Middle French

Preposition

ou

1. within
   • 15th century, Chronique de Charles VII roi de France par Jean Chartier, Tomé II, edited by Vallet de Viriville. Paris: P. Jannet, 1858, page 18.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French ou, from Latin aut.

Conjunction

ou

1. (France, Guernsey) or

Old French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Etymology 1

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

ou

1. or

Descendants

• French: ou

Etymology 2

From Latin ubi.

Adverb

ou

1. where
   • 11th century, La Vie de Saint Alexis, BNF manuscript 19525

Descendants

• Middle French: où
  • French: où

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ou, from Latin aut.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ow
• Hyphenation: ou

Conjunction

ou

1. or (connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc. each of which could make a passage true)

2. or (connects two equivalent names)

   Synonym: também

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ou.

Descendants

• Macanese: ó

Conjunction

ou … ou

1. either … or

Noun

ou m (plural ous)

1. (logic) inclusive or (connective which yields true when at least one of the predicates is true)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ou.

Derived terms

• ou exclusivo

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ow]

Noun

ou n (plural ouă)

1. egg
2. (slang, chiefly in the plural) ball (testicle)

Declension

Related terms

• oua
• oară

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• ovu (Nuorese)

Etymology

Inherited from Classical Latin ōvum, possibly via Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈou/

Noun

ou m (plural ovos) (Logudorese, Campidanese)

1. egg

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1132: “l'uovo guasto” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “óvu”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg

Saterland Frisian

Alternative forms

• oawe

Etymology

From Old Frisian of, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab. Cognates include West Frisian ôf and German ab.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oːu̯/
• Hyphenation: ou
• Rhymes: -oːu̯

Preposition

ou (neuter or distal adverb deerou, proximal adverb hierou, interrogative adverb wierou)

1. from

Adjective

ou (masculine ouen, feminine, plural or definite oue)

1. detached
2. tired
3. distant
4. (games) out

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “ou”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Sicilian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔu/
• Hyphenation: ò‧u

Etymology 1

Noun

ou m (plural ova)

1. Alternative form of ovu

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

ou

1. an exclamation to get attention.

2. a protest or reprimand.

3. an expression of surprise.

4. an informal greeting, similar to ciau.

Synonyms

• (exclamation to get attention): oi, yo; see also Thesaurus:hey
• (expression of surprise): meh, zu, pui, ippi; see also Thesaurus:wow
• (for repetition or explanation): eh, ah
• (informal greeting): ciau; see also Thesaurus:ciau

Suena

Noun

ou

1. water

References

• Transnewguinea.org, citing McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), Smallhorn (2011) and Wilson (1969)

Tongan

Alternative forms

• au

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *au, from Proto-Oceanic *(i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o.u/

Pronoun

ou

1. Alternative form of au

Zia

Noun

ou

1. water

References

• Transnewguinea.org, citing McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), Smallhorn (2011) and Wilson (1969)