*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of ho

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

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace.

intj

Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts. · halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach. · Said accompanying a vigorous attack.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionhoenm
  • Inherited-form mentionhōang
  • Derivation mentionhó!non
  • Cognate mentionhonl
  • Cognate mentionhode
  • Cognate mentionho!fro · hold!, halt!
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "ho"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English ho"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hō"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hō"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "hó!",
        "pos": "interjection, also, a shepherd's call"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse hó! (interjection, also, a shepherd's call)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "ho"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch ho"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "ho"
      },
      "expansion": "German ho"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "ho!",
        "t": "hold!, halt!"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French ho! (“hold!, halt!”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "ho",
      "ho#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hoo",
      "hoo#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hō",
      "ho#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "hó!",
      "hó#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "ho",
      "ho#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "ho",
      "ho#German"
    ],
    [
      "ho!",
      "ho#Old_French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A stop; a halt; a moderation of pace."
      ],
      "tags": [],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "intj",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to attract attention to something sighted, usually by lookouts.",
        "halloo; hey; a call to excite attention, or to give notice of approach.",
        "Said accompanying a vigorous attack."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive term of abuse for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality. · A woman in general; a bitch.

verb

To act as a ho, to prostitute.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Pronunciation spelling of whore in non-rhotic accents with the dough-door merger, such as some varieties of African American Vernacular English; compare mo (“more”), fo' (“for; four”). The noun first appears c. 1964, whereas the verb first appears c. 1972.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*keh₂-ine-pro
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*keh₂-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "pronunciation spelling",
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Pronunciation spelling"
    },
    {
      "name": "non-rhotic",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "whore",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "whore"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "whore",
      "whore#English"
    ],
    [
      "non-rhotic",
      "non-rhotic"
    ],
    [
      "African American Vernacular English",
      "African American Vernacular English"
    ],
    [
      "mo",
      "mo#English:_more"
    ],
    [
      "fo'",
      "fo'#English"
    ]
  ],
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  "descendants": [],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A whore; a sexually promiscuous woman; in general use as a highly offensive term of abuse for a woman with connotations of loose sexuality.",
        "A woman in general; a bitch."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "derogatory",
        "slang",
        "vulgar",
        "offensive"
      ],
      "recordId": "094165d77bfa53d3e4cc148499cd2dddbd5da4887ab7ccc3e545ccf86d9313c9",
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      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To act as a ho, to prostitute."
      ],
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        "slang",
        "vulgar"
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}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "howe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English howe"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hogu"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hogu"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*hugô"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hugô"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "hugu, hugi"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German hugu, hugi"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "hüge"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle High German hüge"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "hugi"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon hugi"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "höghe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch höghe"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "heug"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch heug"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "hugr"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse hugr"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃 (hugs)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "howe",
      "howe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "houwe",
      "houwe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hoȝe",
      "hoȝe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hogu",
      "hogu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "hoga",
      "hoga#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*hugô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hugô"
    ],
    [
      "*hugiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hugiz"
    ],
    [
      "*huguz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/huguz"
    ],
    [
      "hugu, hugi",
      "hugu, hugi#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "hüge",
      "hüge#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "hugi",
      "hugi#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "höghe",
      "hoghe#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "heug",
      "heug#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "hugr",
      "hugr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃",
      "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐍃#Gothic"
    ]
  ],
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  "descendants": [],
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        "Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow."
      ],
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        "US",
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        "vulgar"
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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗
verb

To care, be anxious, to long.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "howen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English howen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hogian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hogian"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*hugjaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hugjaną"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "hucken"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German hucken"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "huggjan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon huggjan"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "heugen"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch heugen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "hyggja"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse hyggja"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "howen",
      "howen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hoȝen",
      "hoȝen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hogien",
      "hogien#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hogian",
      "hogian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "hugian",
      "hugian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*hugjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hugjaną"
    ],
    [
      "huik",
      "huik#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "hucken",
      "hucken#Old_High_German"
    ],
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      "huggjan",
      "huggjan#Old_Saxon"
    ],
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      "heugen",
      "heugen#Dutch"
    ],
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      "hyggja",
      "hyggja#Old_Norse"
    ],
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      "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽",
      "𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽#Gothic"
    ]
  ],
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        "To care, be anxious, to long."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for ho →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-aG8