LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neuter

ō1

ō n or f (indeclinable)
Classical[ˈoː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔː]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. indeclinableThe name of the Latin script letter O/o.

ō (long also before an initial vowel:
I. o ego, Ov. M. 8, 51; Hor. A. P. 301; but also short: ŏ Alexi, Verg. E. 2, 65), interj. The commonest exclamation of joy, astonishment, desire, grief, indignation, etc.; O! Oh! constr. usually with voc. or acc.; less freq. with nom., gen., utinam, si.
1. With voc.: o Romule, Romule die, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 Vahl. (Ann. v. 115 Vahl.): o Tite, tute Tuti, id. ap. Prisc. p. 947 P. (Ann. v. 113 Vahl.); cf.: o Tite, si quid te adjuero, id. ap. Cic. Sen. 1, 1 (Ann. v. 339 Vahl.): o mi Furni! Cic. Fam. 10, 26, 2: o paterni generis oblite, id. Pis. 26, 62.—
2. With acc.: o faciem pulchram ... o infortunatum senem, Ter. Eun. 2, 3, 5 and 7: o miseras hominum mentes, Lucr. 2, 14: o me perditum, o me afflictum! Cic. Fam. 14, 4, 3: o hominem nequam! id. Att. 4, 13, 2: o praeclarum custodem ovium, ut aiunt, lupum! id. Phil. 3, 11, 27: o rem totam odiosam, id. Att. 6, 4, 1: o Bruti amanter seriptas, litteras, id. ib. 15, 10.—
3. With nom. (rare): o pietas animi, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 27, 88 (Ann. v. 8 Vahl.): o Patricoles, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 16, 38 (Trag. v. 14 Vahl.): o vir fortis atque amicus! Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 10: o ego ter felix, Ov. M. 8, 51; so, o ego, Hor. A. P. 301: o multum miseri, Ov. M. 4, 155: o qualis facies! Juv. 10, 157.—
4. With utinam: o utinam Obrutus esset! Ov. H. 1, 5; id. M. 1, 363 al.—
5. With si: quamquam, o si solitae quicquam virtutis adesset! yet oh! if, etc., Verg. A. 11, 415.—
6. With gen.: o nuntii beati, Cat. 9, 5.—By poets also placed after a word: o lux Dardaniae, spes o fidissima Teucrūm, Verg. A. 2, 281: quid o tua fulmina cessant! Ov. M. 2, 279.—Three times repeated: o pater, o genitor, o sanguen dis oriundum, Enn. ap. Cic. Rep. 1, 41 (Ann. v. 117 Vahl.); cf.: o pater, o patria, o Priami domus, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 118 Vahl.): o soror, o conjux, o femina sola superstes, Ov. M. 1, 351.

Origins

From the letter’s own long vowel sound. Compare οὖ (oû). An Etruscan etymon is not reconstructible, since Etruscan letter-names are unknown.

letter
o2
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. letterlowercaseA letter of the Latin alphabet, written in the Latin script.

O, o, the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding to the Gr. ο and ω. The Latin language possessed both the sound and the sign from the earliest times; whereas the Etruscan language never possessed the
I. o, and the Umbrian seems not to have received it as an alphabetical character till a later period. The oldest monuments of the Latin tongue frequently employ o where the classic language has u. So on the Column. Rostr. MACESTRATOS (acc. plur.), EXFOCIONT, CONSOL, PRIMOS (nom. sing.), CAPTOM; in the epitaphs of the Scipios, HONC OINO, COSENTIONT, DVONORO OPTVMO VIRO (bonorum optumum virum); in the S. C. de Bacch. IN OQVOLTOD al. And even in the later inscrr. and MSS., we sometimes find o for u: POPLICO, POPOLVM, TABOLEIS, in the Tab. Bantina: FACIONDAM DEDERONT, Inscr. Orell. 1585: MONDO, HOC TOMOLO, ib. 4858: fondus, fornacatibus, solitodo, etc., in good MSS. (v. Freund, Cic. Mil. p. 18). And, on the contrary, u for o in the old forms, fruns, funtes, for frons, fontes, v. h. vv.: RVBVSTIS for robustis, in the Cenot. Pisan.; v. Inscr. Orell. 642: NVMENCLATOR, Inscr. Grut. 630, 5: CONSVBRINVS, ib. 1107, 1: SACERDVS, ib. 34, 5: VNV LOCV, ib. 840, 1. O appears in class. Lat. particularly in connection with qu and v: quom, avos. This interchange of o and u seems to have been effected rather by dialectical and local than by organic and historical causes; just as in the modern Italian dialects a preference is shown on the one hand for o and on the other for u, and in one and the same dialect the Latin o has passed over into u and the u into o. —On the commutation of o and e, see the letter E.—We have o for au in Clodius, plodo, plostrum, sodes, etc. (also in polulum for paululum, Cato, R. R. 10, 2).— O inserted in the archaic forms: Patricoles, Hercoles, v. Ritschl ap. Rhein. Mus. 8, p. 475 sq., and 9, p. 480. As an abbreviation, O. stands for omnis and optimus: I. O. M., Jovi Optimo Maximo: O. E. B. Q. C., ossa ejus bene quiescant condita, Inscr. Orell. 4489; cf.: O. I. B. Q., ossa illius bene quiescant, ib. 4483; 4490: O. N. F., omnium nomine faciundae, ib. 4415: O. T. B. Q., ossa tua bene quiescant: O. V., optimo viro, ib. 4135; also: optimi viri, ib. 5037.

Origins

From Etruscan letter 𐌏 (o), from Ancient Greek letter ο (o, “omicron”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤏 (ʿ, “ayin”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓁹.

interjection
ō̆3
ō̆
Classical[ˈoː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔː]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. Oh! (expression of surprise, pain or joy)
    o faciem pulchram! deleo omnis dehinc ex animo mulieres.Oh, what beautiful looks! From now on, I banish all other women from my mind161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 297

Origins

Expressive. Etymology 3, particle sense 1 is semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὦ (ô). Older Latin uses prō or bare vocative forms exclusively.

particle
ō̆4
ō̆
Classical[ˈoː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔː]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. O! (vocative particle)
    O tempora, o mores! Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit?Shame on the age and on its principles! (literally, “O times! O mores!”) The senate is aware of these things; the consul sees them; and yet this man lives. Lives!63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.2
    et reversus de Galgalis ubi erant idola dixit ad regem verbum secretum habeo ad te o rex et ille imperavit silentium egressisque omnibus qui circa eum erantthen returning from Galgal, where the idols were, he said to the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence: and all being gone out that were about himc. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Judges.3.19

Origins

Expressive. Etymology 3, particle sense 1 is semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὦ (ô). Older Latin uses prō or bare vocative forms exclusively.

letter
O5
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. letteruppercaseA letter of the Latin alphabet, written in the Latin script, representing the vowels /o/ and /oː/.

Quick answers

What does ō mean in Latin?
ō, a noun, means “The name of the Latin script letter O/o.”.
How do you pronounce ō?
In classical Latin, [ˈoː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈɔː].