ho

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ho"

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English ho, hoo (interjection), probably from Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call). Compare German ho, Old French ho ! (“hold!, halt!”).

Interjection[edit]

ho

  1. (nautical) Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.
    Sail ho! ― Another boat is visible!
    Land ho! ― Land is visible!
    Man ho! ― A town is visible!
  2. halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach
Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho

  1. A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.
    • (Can we date this quote by Decker and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      There is no ho with them.
References[edit]
  • 1996, T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation spelling of whore in a non-rhotic accent with the dough-door merger, which is found in some varieties of African American Vernacular English. Compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho (plural hos or hoes)

  1. (slang, euphemistic) A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive name-calling word for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.
    Bros before hos!
    • 2010 God Went Fishing page 69
      "You looking for one of my ho's?" the diminutive man asked Sigmund.
      "A hoe?" Sigmund asked, wondering why the little man wished to sell him farming equipment in the city.
      "You know, a ho. A tute. A honey, A righteous bit of poontang, my brother," he said.
      "I don't follow," Sigmund said.
      "Indubitably, I means a ho, a whore. I can tell you is a player. You want a whore?" he asked.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English howe, houwe, hoȝe, from Old English hogu and hoga, from Proto-Germanic *hugô, *hugiz, *huguz (“mind, thought, understanding”), akin to Old High German hugu, hugi (Middle High German hüge), Old Saxon hugi (Middle Dutch höghe, Dutch heug ), Old Norse hugr, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃 (hugs).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho (plural hos)

  1. (obsolete) Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.
    • 1567, G. Turberville tr. A. Sani di Cure Aunsweres in tr. Ovid Heroycall Epist. 155v:
      Though there bee A thousand cares that heape my hoe.
    • 1798, C. Smith, Young Philosopher I. 195:
      Him that..this gentlewoman is in such a hoe about.
    • 1869-70, William Barnes, The Widow’s House, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
      But by day to the zun they must rise To their true lives o' tweil an' ov ho.
    • 1875, W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial (at cited word):
      I doänt see as you've any call to putt yourself in no such terrible gurt hoe over it.

Etymology 4[edit]

From Middle English howen, hoȝen, hogien, from Old English hogian, hugian, from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną. Cognate with Middle Scots huik, Old High German hucken, Old Saxon huggjan, Dutch heugen, Old Norse hyggja, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan).

Alternative forms[edit]

Verb[edit]

ho

  1. (obsolete) To care, be anxious, long.
    • 1787, F. Grose, Provinc. Gloss (at cited word):
      To ho for anything, to long for any thing. Berks.
    • 1847-78, J. O. Halliwell, Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words:
      Ho...to long for anything; to be careful and anxious. West.
    • 1869-70, William Barnes, The Bells of Alderburnham, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
      But still 'tis happiness to know That there's a God above us; An' he, by day an' night do ho Vor all ov us an' love us.
    • 1874, T. Hardy, Far from Madding Crowd II. xxiii. 289:
      To ho and hanker after thik woman.
    • 1888, B. Lowsley, Gloss. Berks. Words & Phrases:
      Ho, to long for; to care greatly for.

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin hoc.

Pronoun[edit]

ho (enclitic and proclitic)

  1. it (direct object); replaces the demonstrative pronouns açò, això and allò
  2. replaces an independent clause (one which could grammatically form a sentence on its own)
  3. replaces an adjective or an indefinite noun which serves as the predicate of ésser, esdevenir, estar or semblar

Usage notes[edit]

  • Ho cannot be used with either en or hi.

Declension[edit]

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Contraction[edit]

proclictic
enclictic

Chickasaw[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. they

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho m, n

  1. accusative of on
    Synonym: jej
  2. accusative of ono

Danish[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ho

  1. (onomatopoeia) Signifies a hearty laugh.

See also[edit]

Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho (accusative singular ho-on, plural ho-oj, accusative plural ho-ojn)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter H.

See also[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ho

  1. oh

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ho

  1. Used by tamer to calm the animal they are taming, especially horses; whoa.
    Ho ! Tout doux ! ― Whoa! Easy!
  2. Used to express surprise or shock.
    Ho mon Dieu ! ― Oh my God!

Galician[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From home (“man”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ho!

  1. used closing the sentence to bolster the attention of the listener; emphatic
    Para, ho! ― Stop!
    Non o volvo facer! Non ho! ― I'm not doing this again! No way!

References[edit]

  • “ho” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
  • “ho” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • “ho” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Guaraní[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

ho (active, intransitive, irregular)

  1. to go
    Che ahata che rógape.
    I am going home.

Conjugation[edit]

Italian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • o (misspelling)

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

ho

  1. first-person singular present indicative of avere (“I have”)

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

ho

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ほ
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ホ

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Preposition[edit]

ho

  1. Obsolete spelling of wó

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English hwā

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. who

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old English hē, from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”).

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. Alternative form of he

References[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. Alternative form of heo

References[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From Old English hīe, hī.

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. Alternative form of he

References[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse hon.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho (accusative henne, genitive hennes)

  1. (nonstandard, since 2005) she (third person singular, feminine)

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse hon.

Pronoun[edit]

ho (accusative ho or henne, genitive hennar)

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. she, it (third person singular, feminine)
    Ho er bestevenninna mi. ― She is my best friend.
  2. her
    Eg ser ho. ― I see her.
    Synonym: henne

Usage notes[edit]

Unlike other Scandinavian languages, Nynorsk ho is used to refer not only to feminine persons, but any feminine noun. E.g.: Boka er god. Eg likar ho. (“The book is good. I like it.”)

See also[edit]
    Personal pronouns in Nynorsk
Number Person Nominative Oblique Possessive / Genetive
feminine masculine neuter plural
Singular First eg meg mi min mitt mine
Second du deg di din ditt dine
Third (reflexive) — seg si sin sitt sine
Third (masculine) han han hans
Third (feminine) ho ho, henne hennar
Third (neuter) det dess1
Plural First me, vi oss vår vårt våre
Second de, dokker dykk, dokker dykkar, dokkar
Third dei dei deira
1Rare or literary

Etymology 2[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho f (definite singular hoa, indefinite plural hoer, definite plural hoene)

  1. female
    Hoa legg egga oppe i eit tre. ― The female lays the eggs up in a tree.

References[edit]

Old Irish[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

ho

  1. Alternative spelling of ó

Preposition[edit]

ho

  1. Alternative spelling of ó

Orya[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho

  1. water

References[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ho

  1. Used to calm or stop a domestic animal, especially horses; whoa.
    Ho ! Ușor ! ― Whoa! Easy!
  2. (vulgar) Used to calm down a person.
    Ho! Nu mai țipa ! ― Ho! Stop screaming!

Slovak[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. short genitive/accusative singular of on
  2. short genitive/accusative singular of ono

Synonyms[edit]

  • (long form): jeho
  • (prepositional form): neho

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho c

  1. a trough; a long container for feeding or watering animals.
  2. a sink; often mounted to a wall; especially a kitchen sink or a washing sink.

Declension[edit]

Declension of ho 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ho hon hoar hoarna
Genitive hos hons hoars hoarnas

Related terms[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ho

  1. (obsolete) who
  2. (dialectal) she

See also[edit]

Tagalog[edit]

Particle[edit]

ho

  1. (Batangas) a honorific particle
    Taga-saan naman ho kayo? ― Where are you from? (when addressing a person of higher status, like elders)
    Synonym: po (Manila, Standard Tagalog, other dialects)

Vietnamese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Vietic *hɔː.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

ho • (呼, 𤵡)

  1. to cough

Derived terms[edit]

Derived terms

Warao[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho

  1. water

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Zhuang[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate with Bouyei hol (“garlic”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ho (old orthography ho)

  1. garlic
    Synonym: suenq

Derived terms[edit]

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