oh
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Forms
ōh! [1] It is also written ō.[2]
Etymology
It is a natural exclamation, imitative in origin.[3] The OLD compares Ancient Greek ὦ (ô) and similar interjections in Gothic and other languages.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
It belongs to the language of comedy.[4] Plautus has it of pleasure, oh mihi! in tempore advenis, “oh, you have come just at the right time for me!”[2]
Semantic evolution
It expresses very different feelings.[5] In Plautus and Terence it marks pleasure or satisfaction, pain, misery or reproach, and surprise.[2][5] Terence has oh, iniquus es, “oh, you are unfair”.[5] Repeated as oh! oh! oh! it is a cry of lamentation in Plautus, and a doubled oh, oh expresses exultation.[2][5]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of pleasure, pain and surprise.[2][3]
- 190–159 BC – Terence, in reproach.[5][3]
Meanings
Interjection
- Expressing pleasure or satisfaction: oh!, ah![2][5][1]
- Expressing pain, misery or reproach: oh!, alas![2][5]
- Expressing surprise.[2][5]
Usage notes
Georges and the TLL treat it together with the interjection ō.[4][6]
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften