"O" Word Origins

oops

Origin · 1920

Attested since the 1920s, likely a shortened, natural-sounding form related to "whoops" and "upsy-daisy."

oopsy

Origin

From oops + -y (diminutive suffix). The verb is from the noun.

oot

Old English

From Old English āuht — the same root that gives us the modern word "aught."

OOTD

English

An initialism of 'outfit of the day', formed on the same pattern as other social-media hashtags.

Ooty

Origin

Abbreviation of Ootacamund, the former name of the city.

ooze

Old English

From Old English wōs ("sap, juice"), related to Old High German wasal ("rain") — a Germanic root tied to slow seepage and moisture.

op

Origin

Shortened from "operator" (chat/game sense) or from "op shop," short for "opportunity shop," a charity secondhand store.

op-ed

English

A shortening of 'opposite the editorial page', the position such columns traditionally occupied in a printed newspaper. It does not, despite the common assumption, stand for 'opinion editorial'.

opa

German

Borrowed from German Opa, an affectionate word for grandfather.

opacity

Latin

From Latin opacitas 'shadiness', from opacus 'shaded, dark', by way of French opacité.

opacous

Origin

From Latin opācus (“shaded, shady, dark”) + -ous.

opal

Latin · 1598

From Latin opalus, ultimately traced back to Sanskrit upala ("gem, stone"); first recorded in English around 1598.

opaque

Latin

From Latin opacus ("shaded, dark"), via Middle English opake, later reshaped by French opaque.

ope

Origin

Thought to come from saying "oh" with the mouth snapping shut, adding a "p" sound — the same pattern as "yep," "nope," and "welp."

open

Old English

From Old English open, going back to a very old Germanic root meaning "up from under" — related to the English word "up."

open source

English

A compound of open and source, from source code, the human-readable form of a program before it is compiled or run.

open-minded

English

A compound of open and minded, on the pattern of like-minded and narrow-minded.

opener

Old English

From Old English openere, built from open plus the agent suffix "-er," the same pattern as "writer" or "singer."

opening

Old English

From Old English openiende, the present-participle form of the verb open, built the same way as "reading" comes from "read."

openly

Old English

From Old English openlīċe, formed from open plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

openness

Old English

From Old English openness, built from open plus the noun suffix "-ness" (as in "kindness" or "happiness").

opera

Italian

Borrowed from Italian opera, literally "work" — the same root that gives us "opus" and "operate."

operable

Origin

Borrowed from Latin operābilis.

operand

Origin

From Late Latin operandum. By surface analysis, operate + -and. Doublet of operandum.

operant

Origin

From Middle English operant, from Latin operāns.

operate

Latin

From Latin operari, "to work or labor" — related to "opus" (a work) and "operation."

operatic

Origin

From opera plus the adjective suffix "-ic," on the model of "dramatic."

operating system

English

A compound of operating, from operate, and system; in use in computing from the era of early mainframes, when the software that operated the machine was distinguished from the programs run on it.

operation

Latin

From Latin operatio, "a working," from the verb operari — the same root as "operate."

operational

Origin

From operation plus the adjective suffix "-al."

operative

Latin

From Latin operativus, from operari, "to work" — the same family as "operate" and "operation."

operator

Latin

Borrowed from Latin operator, "one who works," from operari — the same root as "operate."

operetta

Italian

Borrowed from Italian operetta, literally "little opera," from opera plus the diminutive ending "-etta."

Ophelia

Ancient Greek

Coined by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro, probably from Ancient Greek ὠφέλειᾰ ("help, aid").

ophthalmic

Origin

Borrowed from Latin ophthalmicus, from Ancient Greek ὀφθᾰλμῐκός (ophthălmĭkós, “of or for the eyes”), from ὀφθᾰλμός (ophthălmós, “eye”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, “-ic”, adjectival suffix).

ophthalmologist

Greek

From ophthalmology plus the suffix "-ist," ultimately from Greek ophthalmos, "eye."

opiate

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin opiatus, ultimately from opium.

Opie

Origin

From the Cornish surname, from a pet form of various personal names such as Osborn or Osbald.

opine

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French opiner, from Latin opīnor (“to hold as an opinion”), from *opīnus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative nec-opīnus (“not expecting”) and in-opīnus (“not expected”); akin to optō (“to choose, desire”), and to apīscor (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.

opinion

Latin

From Latin opinio, from opinor, "to think or suppose" — it displaced the native Old English word wena.

opium

Latin

Borrowed from Latin opium and ultimately Greek opion, from opos, "juice of a plant."

opp

English

A shortening of 'opposition' or 'opponent'. The gang sense spread through Chicago drill music and then UK drill; some users also connect it to 'opposing police', but the shortening from opposition is the straightforward account.

oppa

Korean

Borrowed from Korean 오빠 (oppa), meaning "older brother" as used by a female speaker.

Oppenheimer

German

Literally means "one from Oppenheim," a town in Germany, formed the way many German surnames were built from place names.

opponent

Latin

Borrowed from Latin opponens, "opposing," from oppono, "to oppose."

opportune

Latin

From Old French opportun, from Latin opportunus, literally "coming toward the harbor" — suggesting something arriving at just the right time.

opportunely

Origin

From Middle English oportunely, equivalent to opportune + -ly.

opportunism

Origin

From French opportunisme, equivalent to opportune + -ism.