aw

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔː/^[1]

Etymology

It is a natural exclamation,^[2] imitative,^[3] first recorded in American English in the mid-19th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An exclamation of mild remonstrance, entreaty or commiseration: 1797 in MWU, 1852 in the OED;^[4][5] in this form by 1888 in Etymonline.^[6]

Semantic evolution

SOED labels it Scottish and North American.^[3] It expresses mild disappointment, sympathy, disgust or disbelief.^[6][7][3] Collins marks it informal and chiefly American.^[8]

Timeline

• 1797 – first known use.^[4]
• 1852 – in the OED.^[5]
• 1888 – the spelling aw.^[6]

Modern meaning

Interjection

1. Used to express sympathy, mild disappointment, disgust or disbelief.

Related words

• oh
• ah

Usage notes

In Scots aw is a spelling of a', all.^[8][9] An unrelated dialect noun aw, an ear of oats, is recorded in Shropshire and Essex.^[9] The OED also lists aw as an obsolete spelling of awe, owe and ought.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)