O

8 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O' \O'\ [Ir. o a descendant.]
     A prefix to Irish family names, which signifies grandson or
     descendant of, and is a character of dignity; as, O'Neil,
     O'Carrol.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O' \O'\ ([=o]; unaccented [-o]), prep.
     A shortened form of of or on. "At the turning o' the tide."
     --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O \O\ ([=o]), a. [See {One}.]
     One. [Obs.] --Chaucer. "Alle thre but o God." --Piers
     Plowman.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O \O\ ([=o]), interj.
     An exclamation used in calling or directly addressing a
     person or personified object; also, as an emotional or
     impassioned exclamation expressing pain, grief, surprise,
     desire, fear, etc.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. --Ps.
                                                    cxix. 89.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           O how love I thy law ! it is my meditation all the day.
                                                    --Ps. cxix.
                                                    97.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: O is frequently followed by an ellipsis and that, an in
           expressing a wish: "O [I wish] that Ishmael might live
           before thee!" --Gen. xvii. 18; or in expressions of
           surprise, indignation, or regret: "O [it is sad] that
           such eyes should e'er meet other object!" --Sheridan
           Knowles.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: A distinction between the use of O and oh is insisted
           upon by some, namely, that O should be used only in
           direct address to a person or personified object, and
           should never be followed by the exclamation point,
           while Oh (or oh) should be used in exclamations where
           no direct appeal or address to an object is made, and
           may be followed by the exclamation point or not,
           according to the nature or construction of the
           sentence. Some insist that oh should be used only as an
           interjection expressing strong feeling. The form O,
           however, is, it seems, the one most commonly employed
           for both uses by modern writers and correctors for the
           press. "O, I am slain!" --Shak. "O what a fair and
           ministering angel!" "O sweet angel !" --Longfellow.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 O for a kindling touch from that pure flame!
                                                    --Wordsworth.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 But she is in her grave, -- and oh
                 The difference to me!              --Wordsworth.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness! --Cowper.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 We should distinguish between the sign of the
                 vocative and the emotional interjection, writing
                 O for the former, and oh for the latter. --Earle.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {O dear}, & {O dear me!} [corrupted fr. F. O Dieu! or It. O
        Dio! O God! O Dio mio! O my God! --Wyman.], exclamations
        expressive of various emotions, but usually promoted by
        surprise, consternation, grief, pain, etc.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O \O\ ([=o]).
     1. O, the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, derives
        its form, value, and name from the Greek O, through the
        Latin. The letter came into the Greek from the
        Ph[oe]nician, which possibly derived it ultimately from
        the Egyptian. Etymologically, the letter o is most closely
        related to a, e, and u; as in E. bone, AS. b[=a]n; E.
        stone, AS. st[=a]n; E. broke, AS. brecan to break; E.
        bore, AS. beran to bear; E. dove, AS. d[=u]fe; E. toft,
        tuft; tone, tune; number, F. nombre.
        [1913 Webster] The letter o has several vowel sounds, the
        principal of which are its long sound, as in bone, its
        short sound, as in nod, and the sounds heard in the words
        orb, son, do (feod), and wolf (book). In connection with
        the other vowels it forms several digraphs and diphthongs.
        See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 107-129.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Among the ancients, O was a mark of triple time, from the
        notion that the ternary, or number 3, is the most perfect
        of numbers, and properly expressed by a circle, the most
        perfect figure.
        [1913 Webster] O was also anciently used to represent 11:
        with a dash over it ([=O]), 11,000.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  O \O\ ([=o]), n.; pl. {O's} or {Oes} ([=o]z).
     1. The letter O, or its sound. "Mouthing out his hollow oes
        and aes." --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Something shaped like the letter O; a circle or oval.
        "This wooden O [Globe Theater]". --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A cipher; zero. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Thou art an O without a figure.       --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  O
       n 1: the blood group whose red cells carry neither the A nor B
            antigens; "people with type O blood are universal
            donors" [syn: {type O}, {group O}]
       2: a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless
          odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes
          21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant
          element in the earth's crust [syn: {oxygen}, {atomic
          number 8}]
       3: the 15th letter of the Roman alphabet

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  O
       
           {ASCII} code 79, The letter of the alphabet, not
          to be confused with 0 ({zero}) the digit.
       
          (1999-02-07)