okay

Etymology

It is the spelled-out form of “OK”, also “O.K.”, showing how the letters are pronounced,^[2][1][3] and “OK” is apparently an initialism from English from oll korrect or orl korrect, a jocular respelling of all correct.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The evidence collected by Allen Walker Read in 1963 and 1964 shows the letters in the “Boston Morning Post” of 23 March 1839, explained there as "all correct",^[4][9][10] amid a vogue in the newspapers of Boston and New York for humorous abbreviations,^[9][10] some based on deliberate misspellings: “N.C.” for “’nuff ced” and “K.Y.” for “know yuse”,^[11] “K.G.” for “know go” and “O.W.” for “oll wright”.^[9] In 1840 the abbreviation was reinforced by the initials of “Old Kinderhook”, the nickname of President Martin Van Buren, born in Kinderhook, New York, used as a slogan in his re-election campaign.^{[4][5][2][12]} The Oxford dictionaries and Ayto hedge with "apparently", "probably" or "still some doubt",^[4][13][5] and Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories observes that nothing is known of the word before 1839.^[9] Hendrickson, by contrast, reports the view that the letters come from Van Buren's nickname alone,^[14] which the OED treats as a later reinforcement.^[4] Rival accounts were current almost at once: in 1840 the “Lexington Intelligencer” said that the letters first stood for “Out of Kash”, then “Oll Korrect” and “Oll Koming”.^[4] The OED finds no acceptable documentation for the proposed origins in an alleged Choctaw word “oke”, in the French phrase “au quai”, in the Scots phrase “och aye”, or in Wolof by way of slaves in the American South,^[4] and Etymonline agrees that the Choctaw theory lacks historical documentation.^[11] Liberman has 78 citations on the question in his database, and lists attempts to trace it to Classical Greek, Finnish, Burmese and other languages.^[15] The OED leaves open whether an “ok” in a diary of 1815 is the same expression.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

All correct, satisfactory: “He [...] would have the ‘contribution box’, et ceteras, o.k.—all correct—and cause the corks to fly”, written by Charles Gordon Greene in the Boston Morning Post, 23 March 1839,^[4][16][10] as a mock suggestion that a Providence editor sponsor a party.^[9] The spelling okay is recorded from 1929 according to Etymonline,^[11] and the Shorter Oxford puts it in the early 20th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of the many initialisms of its day, OK alone survived,^[11] helped by the 1840 campaign,^[9][11][6] when the New York OK Club boosted Van Buren and the rival Whigs marched under the same letters,^[11] and by its use as a quick written mark of approval on documents and bills.^[11] It soon left politics behind: as an interjection meaning "yes, all right" it dates from 1839,^[4] as a noun meaning an endorsement from 1841,^[4][7][11] as an adverb from 1886 in the OED, or 1868 in Green,^[4][16] and as a verb, first in marking a document with the letters, from 1882.^[4][7] From 1869 it could also mean “fashionable, high-class”,^[4] and it was printed as a slang term in Australia in 1856.^[16] The form it took in print also moved: Woodrow Wilson wrote okeh in 1919, believing it to be Choctaw,^[11][4] but this spelling soon gave way to okay.^[11] In the 20th century the word lost much of its force: "permissible" from 1925,^[4] a tag asking for agreement from 1929,^[4] and a mere conversational opener or filler from 1933.^[4] American English spread it worldwide, and it was well known in England by the 1880s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1839 – o.k., all correct, satisfactory.^[4][7][16] As an interjection of assent, O.K., in the New York Evening Tattler of 2 September.^[4]
• 1840 – O.K. as a slogan in the presidential campaign, glossed “oll korrect”.^[16][12]
• 1841 – noun, approval, endorsement.^[4][7][11]
• 1869 – fashionable, high-class.^[4]
• 1871 – of a person, decent, trustworthy.^[4]
• 1882 – verb, to endorse by marking OK; to approve.^[4][7] Etymonline and Green date the verb to 1888.^[11][16]
• 1886 – adverb, satisfactorily.^[4][7]
• 1919 – the spelling okeh, used by Woodrow Wilson.^[11][4]
• 1925 – appropriate, permissible.^[4]
• 1929 – the spelling okay;^[11] the interrogative tag OK?.^[4]
• 1933 – conversational opener or filler, without assent.^[4]
• 1972 – British —— rules OK!, in graffiti.^[4] Tréguer traces the graffiti to 1971.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Satisfactory or acceptable; fairly good but not outstanding: The film was okay, though the ending dragged.^{[6][18][3][4]}
2. Permissible, allowed: Is it okay to park here?^[4][18][3]
3. In good health or working order; unhurt: The cyclist fell but was okay.^[6][4]
4. Of a person, decent, trustworthy or likeable.^[4][7]
5. Of a person, comfortable or content, usually with about or with.^[4]

Interjection

1. Used to express assent or approval; yes, all right.^{[4][6][18][7]}
2. Added to a statement to seek agreement: We leave at six, okay?^[4]
3. Used to open an utterance or as a filler in conversation.^[4][18]

Adverb

1. In a satisfactory way; adequately, well enough: The old radio still works okay.^[4][6][18]

Noun

1. Approval, endorsement or authorization: She needs her manager's okay.^{[4][6][7][18]}

Verb

1. To approve or authorize, especially by marking a document: The editor okayed the article.^{[4][6][7][18]}

Related words

• correct
• okey-dokey

Usage notes

According to Grammarphobia, OK, O.K. and okay are all acceptable and the choice is one of style: the New York Times prefers O.K. and the Associated Press OK, while Garner's usage guide notes that okay takes endings more easily, as in okays, okaying and okayed.^[19] The American Heritage Dictionary gives the verb both as OK’d, OK’ing and as okayed, okaying.^[6] Cassell's dictionary lists many more stories, among them the Haitian port of Aux Cayes and cotton inspectors' aux quais, while favouring Oll Korrect, which it connects with President Andrew Jackson as a court clerk, and Van Buren's slogan.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c Wilton, Dave, Wordorigins.org, wordorigins.org, p. "OK / okay / A-OK", 22 June 2021
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b From Abracadabra to Zeus: Word Histories and Mysteries (2004), Boston: Houghton Mifflin (American Heritage Dictionaries)
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
15. ^ Liberman, Anatoly, The Oxford Etymologist (blog column), OUPblog, blog.oup.com, p. "The Eternal Fascination of OK", 7 May 2008
16. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ Tréguer, Pascal, Word Histories, wordhistories.net, p. "Origin of the British phrase —— rules OK", 5 November 2017
18. ^ a b c d e f g Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
19. ^ O'Conner, Patricia T.; Kellerman, Stewart, The Grammarphobia Blog, grammarphobia.com, p. "I’m OK, you’re okay", 11 September 2008
20. ^ Cassell's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, London: Cassell