Etymologically
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oh

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /əʊ/, US /oʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is a respelling of Middle English o,[2][3][4] which is inherited from Middle English o, borrowed from Old French ô (also spelled oh),[2][5][3] or directly from Latin ō (also ōh).[2][5][3] The spelling oh was possibly influenced by the Latin variant.[5][4] The interjection is common to many Indo-European languages,[2] but it is not found in Old English, which used Old English ēalā instead.[2] Klein describes it as imitative.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An exclamation of feeling such as surprise, fear, pain, gladness or appeal: the Middle English form o is probably from before 1200,[5] and the spelling oh is recorded from the 1530s[2] or before 1548.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In early use oh could stand in any position; it later came to be used mainly where it stands apart, while O is kept before a vocative.[7][2] From 1534 it has also been a noun naming the exclamation itself,[7] and since 1833 a verb, “to say oh”.[7] Many set phrases are modern: oh boy is recorded by 1917, oh-so “so very” by 1916, oh yeah by 1924 and the doubting oh yeah? by 1930.[2] The doubled oh-oh of alarm dates from 1944,[2][7] and uh-oh from 1935.[2] Since the early 20th century oh has also been the name of the letter O used for the figure zero.[4][8]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – Middle English o.[5]
  • 1530s – the spelling oh.[2]
  • 1534 – noun, the exclamation itself.[7]
  • 1833 – verb, to exclaim oh.[7]
  • 1908 – the figure zero.[8]
  • 1917 – oh boy.[2]
  • 1930 – oh yeah?.[2]
  • 1944 – oh-oh.[2][7]

Modern meaning

Interjection

  1. Used to express strong feeling, such as surprise, fear, anger or pain.
  2. Used before a name or title in direct address.
  3. Used to show that one has understood or noticed something.

Noun

  1. The figure zero, as said aloud when reading out numbers.

Verb

  1. To exclaim “oh”.
  • ah
  • o
  • ooh
  • uh-oh
  • alas

Usage notes

Fowler wanted oh kept for places where it stands on its own, and O where it leans on the following word, as in addressing someone.[2] The noun “zero” comes from the likeness of the figure 0 to the letter O; Merriam-Webster dates it to 1936.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin