Etymologically
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yo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /jəʊ/, US /joʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is a natural exclamation, first recorded in late Middle English.[2][3][4] Collins calls the modern greeting of unknown origin.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An exclamation of incitement or warning: about 1420 in the OED.[4] Etymonline has it from the early 15th century as a sailors' cry of effort, with ho, and a huntsman's call to the hounds.[6]

Semantic evolution

As a greeting it is by 1859 in Etymonline, 1958 in the OED.[6][4] Its modern popularity dates from the Second World War, when it is said to have been a common answer at roll calls, and it is taken up as a local word in Philadelphia.[6] Separately, yo represents a dialect pronunciation of you and your, especially in Black English, from 1848.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1420 – an exclamation of incitement.[4]
  • 1859 – a greeting.[6]
  • 1958 – greeting, in the OED.[4]

Modern meaning

Interjection

  1. (informal) Used as a greeting or to attract attention.
  2. (informal) Used to express excitement.

Word family

  • yo-ho

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com