Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: WO |
WONoun & adjective1. See Woe. |
Date "WO" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1532. (references) |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
WO | English | Wet oxidation | N/A |
WO | German | Wobbezahl | Physics |
| Wo. | Dutch | Woensdag | Geography, Meteorology & Standards |
| WO,W/O | German | Wasser in Öl | Physics |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: WO |
| English words defined with "WO": Fethcer. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "WO": Wo!. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "WO": Woe-begone. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "WO" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. German (since, somewhere, when, where, while, with). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Wo wo wo (Miss Congeniality; writing credit: Marc Lawrence; Katie Ford) Wo und wann (Blechtrommel, Die; writing credit: Jean-Claude Carrière; Günter Grass) | |
Lyrics | Wo er alles tat (Rock Me Amadeus; performing artist: Falco) Wo! I feel nice, like sugar and spice ("I Got You (I Feel Good)"; performing artist: James Brown) Wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo (The Prophet's Song; performing artist: Queen; writing credit: Brian May) Himitsu wo shiri tai (Mr. Roboto; performing artist: STYX) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Wo der Wildbach durch das Höschen rauscht - Witwen-Report (1974) Seigi wo ai suru mono: Gekkou kamen (1972) Er nu shi wo men de (1970) Wo bu yao li hun (1970) Mei gui wo ai ni (1966) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
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Books |
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Periodicals |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Store front of Quong Yee Wo & Co., Chinatown, New York City. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Construction / Wo Cha. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | The freedom loving peoples of the Netherlands East Indies have long had their own armament program underway. They have been preparing to defend their islands ever since the Nipponese embarked upon their program to "unify" the Pacific area. This younger wo. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | 60 Jahre Internationaler Frauentag, 8. Marz 1970 : dort kampfen wo das Leben ist, Clara Zetkin. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Der Sinn von Genf : wo das Kapital lebt, kann der Friede nicht leben!. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Wo kann denn ein Blinder bloss leben, den die Bienen standig verfolgen?. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "WO" is generally used as a modal auxiliary verb -- approximately 97.71% of the time. "WO" is used about 16,525 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Modal Auxiliary Verb | 97.71% | 16,147 | 577 |
| Unclassified Items | 2.16% | 357 | 15,076 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.1% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.03% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Total | 100.00% | 16,525 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| Hong Kong | Chun Wo Holdings Limited |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expression using "WO": wo hi!. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "WO": wo-de-shu, wo-man, wo-men, wo-where'd-my-stomach-go. | |
Ending with "WO": Susa-no-wo. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
like love wo | 555 | like lyrics mya wo | 10 |
wo | 375 | by like love mya wo | 10 |
like love lyrics mya wo | 187 | lyrics mya wo | 9 |
like love lyrics wo | 153 | like mya wo | 9 |
like love mya wo | 123 | mya wo | 8 |
by like love lyrics mya wo | 46 | 72 bian kan wo | 7 |
like love lyrics main mix mya wo | 42 | cs wo | 6 |
like wo | 41 | love wo | 6 |
like love mya video wo | 20 | ming wo | 6 |
ho shou wo | 17 | patent wo | 6 |
bow wo | 16 | daiteita haru wo | 5 |
like love video wo | 16 | hop wo | 5 |
body like wo | 14 | like love lyrics myas wo | 5 |
ai ni wo | 14 | czyn wo | 5 |
chuck could if much wo wood woodchuck | 13 | like lyrics wo | 5 |
yuen wo ping | 12 | daite haru ita wo | 4 |
been have hippy i involved old several wo years | 11 | 1 2 euromunten wo | 4 |
lil bow wo | 11 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "WO"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
German | hü (gee up, wo hi). (various references) | |
Korean | 경 명 . (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oway.(various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 6, Verse 24 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Plhn ouai umin toiV plousioiV oti apecete thn paraklhsin umwn |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Verumtamen vae vobis divitibus quia habetis consolationem vestram |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þeah hwæðere wa eow witegum. forþam þe ge eowerne frofor habbað; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Netheles wo to you, riche men, that han youre coumfort. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | But wo be to you that are ryche: for ye have therin youre consolacion. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | But woe to you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 6, Verse 24 |
| Cebuano | "Apan alaut kamong mga dato, kay tapus na ninyo madawat ang inyong kalipay. |
| Croatian | "Ali jao vama, bogataši: imate svoju utjehu! |
| Danish | Men ve eder, I rige, thi I have allerede fået eders Trøst. |
| Dutch | Maar wee u, gij rijken, want gij hebt uw troost weg. |
| Finnish | Mutta voi teitä, te rikkaat, sillä te olette jo saaneet lohdutuksenne! |
| French | Mais, malheur vous, riches, car vous avez votre consolation! |
| German | Aber dagegen weh euch Reichen! denn ihr habt euren Trost dahin. |
| Haitian Creole | Men, malè pou nou, nou menm moun rich yo, paske nou deja jwenn sa nou t'ap chache a. |
| Hungarian | De jaj néktek, gazdagoknak, mert elvettétek a ti vigasztalástokat. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Tetapi celakalah kalian yang kaya sekarang ini; sebab kalian sudah mengalami kenikmatan! |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Tetapi, wai bagi kamu yang kaya, karena sudahlah dengan itu penghiburanmu. |
| Italian | Ma guai a voi, ricchi, perché avete gia la vostra consolazione. |
| Korean | 그 러 나 " 있 을 진 너 희 부 " 한 자 여 너 희 " 너 희 의 위 로 를 이 미 받 았 도 다 |
| Manx Gaelic | Agh smerg diuish verchee: son ta shiu er gheddyn nyn gherjagh. |
| Maori | Otira aue, te mate mo koutou, mo te hunga taonga! kua riro hoki i a koutou to koutou whakamarie. |
| Norwegian | Men ve eder, I rike! for I har allerede fått eders trøst. |
| Rumanian | Dar, vai de voi, bogayilor, pentrucq voi v`ayi primit aici mkngkerea! |
| Russian | оБ ТПФЙЧ, ЗПТЕ ЧБН, 'ПЗБФЩЕ! Й'П ЧЩ ХЦЕ ПМХЮЙМЙ УЧПЕ ХФЕЫЕОЙЕ. |
| Shuar | `Tura Kuítrinniutiram atumsha Atumí waratairi aya yamaik waintrume. Ukunmanka waraschattarme.' |
| Spanish | "Pero ¡ay de vosotros los ricos! Porque estáis recibiendo vuestro consuelo. |
| Swahili | Lakini ole wenu ninyi mlio matajiri, maana mmekwisha pata faraja yenu. |
| Swedish | Men ve eder, I som ären rika, ty I haven fått ut eder hugnad! |
| Uma | "Aga silaka-koi topo'ua' tempo toi, apa' mpolia' nirata-mi-koina kagoea' -ni. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "WO": woad, woaded, woads, woadwax, woadwaxes, woald, woalds, wobble, wobbled, wobbler, wobblers, wobbles, wobblier, wobblies, wobbliest, wobbliness, wobblinesses, wobbling, wobbly, wobegone, wodge, wodges, woe, woebegone, woebegoneness, woebegonenesses, woeful, woefuller, woefullest, woefully, woefulness, woefulnesses, woeness, woenesses, woes, woesome, woful, wofully, wog, wogs, wok, woke, woken, woks, wold, wolds, wolf, wolfberries, wolfberry, wolfed, wolfer. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "WO": two. (additional references) | |
Words containing "WO": aardwolf, aardwolves, afterword, afterwords, afterworld, afterworlds, agalwood, agalwoods, airwoman, airwomen, airworthier, airworthiest, airworthiness, airworthinesses, airworthy, alderwoman, alderwomen, anchorwoman, anchorwomen, angleworm, angleworms, antiwoman, armyworm, armyworms, arrowwood, arrowwoods, arrowworm, arrowworms, artwork, artworks, assemblywoman, assemblywomen, aswoon, autoworker, autoworkers, awlwort, awlworts, awoke, awoken, awol, awols, backsword, backswords, backwood, backwoods, backwoodsman, backwoodsmen, backwoodsy, bagworm, bagworms, basketwork. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "WO" (pronounced wō" or hwō") |
| 2 | w ō" | whoa, woe. |
| 2 | -w ō" | whoa, woe. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: ow. | |
| Words containing the letters "o-w" | |
+1 letter: bow, cow, dow, how, jow, low, mow, now, owe, owl, own, pow, row, sow, tow, two, vow, who, woe, wog, wok, won, woo, wop, wos, wot, wow, yow. | |
+2 letters: alow, avow, awol, blow, bowl, bows, brow, chow, cowl, cows, cowy, crow, dhow, down, dows, enow, flow, fowl, frow, glow, gowd, gowk, gown, grow, howe, howf, howk, howl, hows, jowl, jows, know, lowe, lown, lows, meow, mown, mows, nows, nowt, owed, owes, owls, owns, owse, plow, pows, prow, rows, scow, show, slow, snow, sown, sows, stow, swob, swop, swot, town, tows, towy, trow, twos, vows, vrow, whoa, whom, whop, wino, woad, woes, wogs, woke, woks, wold, wolf, womb, wonk, wons, wont, wood, woof, wool, woos, wops, word, wore, work, worm, worn, wort, wost, wots, wove, wows, yowe, yowl, yows. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Usage Frequency 8. Names: Company Usage | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Bible Trace | 13. Abbreviations 14. Acronyms 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.