ao

See also: aO and Appendix:Variations of "ao"

English

Adverb

ao (not comparable)

Initialism of amongst/among/and others.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Japanese あお (ao).

Noun

ao (uncountable)

grue (color)

Anagrams

OA

Anuta

Etymology

Borrowed from Tikopia ao.

Noun

ao

day (period of 24 hours)
day (period between sunrise and sunset)

References

Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Aromanian

Adverb

ao

Alternative form of aoa

Synonyms

aotsi

Bahnar

Etymology

From Proto-Bahnaric *ʔa:w, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ʔaawʔ (“upper garment”). Cognates include Vietnamese áo, Khmer អាវ (aau), Muong ảo.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔaːw/

Noun

ao

shirt

Borôro

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aɔ̯/

Noun

ao

hair

Carabayo

Etymology

Compare Yuri ato (“father”).

Noun

ao

father

References

Seifart and Echeverri, Evidence for the Identification of Carabayo, the Language of an Uncontacted People of the Colombian Amazon, as Belonging to the Tikuna–Yurí Linguistic Family, PLoS ONE 9(4) (2014)

Galician

Alternative forms

ó

Etymology

From contraction of preposition a (“to, towards”) + masculine definite article o (“the”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔ/

Contraction

ao m (feminine á, masculine plural aos, feminine plural ás)

Contraction of a o (“to the, towards the”).

Guaraní

Noun

ao

clothes

Hawaiian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qalejaw (compare Tagalog araw).

Noun

ao

light
daylight
day
dawn

Noun

ao

world
earth

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *qao, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?] (compare Maori ao).

Noun

ao

cloud

Japanese

Romanization

ao

Rōmaji transcription of あお

Lavukaleve

Verb

ao

(intransitive) go in, enter

Mandarin

Romanization

ao

Nonstandard spelling of āo.
Nonstandard spelling of áo.
Nonstandard spelling of ǎo.
Nonstandard spelling of ào.

Usage notes

English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Maore Comorian

Adjective

-ao (declinable)

Alternative form of -awo (“their”)

Maori

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qalejaw (compare Tagalog araw).

Noun

ao

daytime

Noun

ao

world

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *qao, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?] (compare Hawaiian ao).

Noun

ao

cloud

Derived terms

Aotearoa

References

“ao” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori-English, English-Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary‎, Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, page 14-5

Mbyá Guaraní

Noun

ao

clothing, clothes

Minanibai

Noun

ao

water

References

Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /aw/ [aʊ̯]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /aw/

Hyphenation: ao

Contraction

ao (feminine à, masculine plural aos, feminine plural às)

Contraction of a o (“to the (masculine singular)”).

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ao.

Rapa Nui

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *ao (“to scoop up”). Cognates include Tokelauan ao and Maori ao.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈa.o/
Hyphenation: a‧o

Verb

ao

(transitive) to serve (food)

References

Paulus Kieviet (2017) A grammar of Rapa Nui‎, Berlin: Language Science Press, →ISBN, page 395

Samoan

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian [Term?] (compare Tagalog araw).

Noun

ao

day

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *qao, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?] (compare Hawaiian ao).

Noun

ao

cloud

Swahili

Pronunciation

Audio (Kenya) (file)

Adjective

-ao (declinable)

their (third-person plural animate possessive adjective)

Inflection

Inflected forms of -ao

Noun class	singular	plural
M-wa class	wao	wao
M-mi class	wao	yao
Ma class	lao	yao
Ki-vi class	chao	vyao
N class	yao	zao
U class	wao	zao
Pa class	pao	pao
Ku class	kwao	kwao
Mu class	mwao	mwao

Tagalog

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: a‧o

IPA^(key): /ˈʔaʔo/, [ˈʔa.ʔo]

Interjection

ao

(Bataan, informal) yes (said for emotional emphasis)
Synonym: oo
Antonym: hindi

Ternate

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈa.o]

Noun

ao

planks for a canoe

References

Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tokelauan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈa.o/
Hyphenation: a‧o

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *qaho. Cognates include Hawaiian ao and Samoan ao.

Noun

ao

daylight
daytime

Verb

ao

(intransitive) to be daylight

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *qao. Cognates include Hawaiian ao and Samoan ao.

Noun

ao

cloud

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *ao. Cognates include Maori ao and Samoan ao.

Verb

ao

(transitive) to gather

Etymology 4

From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *qao. Cognates include Maori ao and Samoan ao.

Verb

ao

(intransitive) to be good at gathering food

Etymology 5

From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *qao (“authority”). Cognates include Tahitian ao (“heaven”) and Samoan ao (“chief”).

Noun

ao

head, chief

Etymology 6

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

ao

(transitive) to shape (wood)

Etymology 7

From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *ao. Cognates include Tahitian ao and Tuvaluan ao.

Noun

ao

A grossly misformed coconut without any flesh or juice inside.

Synonyms

tama

References

R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary‎, Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 2

Tongan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /a.o/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *qao, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?] (compare Hawaiian ao).

Noun

ao

cloud

Derived terms

aoaofia

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ao

headdress
front of an island

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˧˧]

Etymology 1

Probably a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 澳 (“bay, inlet”, SV: áo).

Noun

(classifier cái) ao • (㘭, 坳, 泑, 𪵲, 𬇚)

pond
- Nguyễn Khuyến, "Thu điếu (Autumn Fishing)"
  Ao thu lạnh lẽo; nuớc trong veo;
  Một chiếc thuyền câu bé tẻo teo;
  The cold autumn pond; the clear water;
  A tiny, itsy-bitsy, fishing boat;
- 1686 Matsuo Bashō, Haru no Hi, "No. 41"; 2007 Vietnamese translation by Nhật Chiêu; English translation by Reginald Horace Blyth
  Ao cũ, con ếch nhảy vào, vang tiếng nước xao.
  The old pond; A frog jumps in — The sound of the water.

Derived terms

ao đầm
ao hồ

Verb

ao • (呦)

to measure roughly, to measure approximately

Derived terms

ao ước
ước ao

Yoruba

Aó

Alternative forms

awó
aghó

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ā.ó/

Noun

aó

(Ekiti) Ekiti form of awó (“guinea fowl”)
Synonym: ẹtù