English

Proper noun

Bo

1. A male given name in occasional use since the 1970s.
2. A city in Sierra Leone

Anagrams

• ob, Ob, OB

Danish

Etymology

Old Norse Búi.

Proper noun

Bo

1. A male given name.

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 23 931 males with the given name Bo have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Dutch

Alternative forms

• Beau

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Bo m

1. A male given name

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse Búi ("dweller", "long-time resident"), originally a medieval byname.

Proper noun

Bo

1. A male given name.

Related terms

• (pet form) Bosse

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, ISBN 91-21-10937-0
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, ISBN 9119551622: 90 158 males with the given name Bo living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1940s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

English

Alternative forms

• boh
• boo

Interjection

bo

1. An exclamation used to startle or frighten.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.37:

     We may fairely cry bo-bo-boe; it may well make us hoarse, but it will nothing advaunce it.‎

Etymology 2

Probably a shortening of boy.

Noun

bo ‎(plural bos)

1. (US, slang) Fellow, chap, boy.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 255:

     ‘Never heard of him,’ he smiled. ‘On your way, bo.’

Etymology 3

From Japanese 棒 ‎(bō), from Middle Chinese 棒 ‎(bǽwng, “staff, club”) (compare modern Chinese 棒 ‎(bàng)).

Noun

bo ‎(plural bos)

1. (martial arts) A quarterstaff, especially in an oriental context.

Anagrams

• ob, Ob, OB

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Provençal bon, from Latin bonus. Numerous cognates include French bon and Portuguese bom.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɔ

Adjective

bo m ‎(feminine bona, masculine plural bons, feminine plural bones)

1. good

Usage notes

The form bon is used as the masculine singular form when the adjective precedes the noun, and bo is used in all other cases.

See also

• bé, ben

Cuiba

Noun

bo

1. home, house

Czech

Conjunction

bo

1. (dialectal) as, since, because

Synonyms

• neboť

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boː/, [b̥oːˀ]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bú, from búa ‎(“to reside”).

Noun

bo n (singular definite boet, plural indefinite boer)

1. estate (the property of a deceased person)
2. den, nest
3. abode, home

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Old Norse búa ‎(“to reside”).

Verb

bo ‎(imperative bo, infinitive at bo, present tense bor, past tense boede, perfect tense har boet)

1. live, reside, dwell
2. stay, stop

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boː/
• Rhymes: -oː

Etymology

Short for boterham..

Noun

bo m ‎(plural bo's, diminutive boke n)

1. (Belgium) sandwich

Esperanto

Noun

bo ‎(accusative singular bo-on, plural bo-oj, accusative plural bo-ojn)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, ŝo, to, u, ŭo, vo, zo ^{(Category: eo:Latin letter names)}

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin bōs, bōvem, probably through a Vulgar Latin *boem.

Noun

bo m ‎(plural bûs)

1. ox

Synonyms

• nemâl

See also

• taur
• vacje

Galician

Etymology

From Latin bonus.

Adjective

bo m (feminine singular boa, masculine plural bos, feminine plural boas)

1. good

Antonyms

• malo, mao

Related terms

• ben

Gunwinggu

Noun

bo

1. water

References

• Lynette Frances Oates, A Tentative Description of the Gunwinggu Language (1964)

Italian

Alternative forms

• boh

Interjection

bo

1. An interjection expressing doubt or indecision.
   • Viene Filomena stasera? Bo, non m’ha richiamato.‎

     Is Filomena coming tonight? I don’t know, she never called me back.

Japanese

Romanization

bo

1. rōmaji reading of ぼ
2. rōmaji reading of ボ

Kurdish

Preposition

bo

1. for

Derived terms

• ji bo
• bo çi

Lojban

Cmavo

bo ‎(rafsi bor)

1. Closest scope grouping operator; groups surrounding words within compound words (tanru); that is, it strengthens the association between immediately neighboring words.

   le xunre kerfa bo smani‎

   the haired monkey who is red

   compare to:

   le xunre kerfa smani‎

   the monkey who has red hair

2. Can be used as terminator to end a string of time tense indicating cmavo (at the beginning of a sentence).

   .ibazabo la lojban. cu pu co'a zmadu la loglan. leka vajni ‎

   After some time, Lojban began to exceed Loglan in terms of importance.

Usage notes

• Consecutive uses of bo cause their neighboring brivla (in a tanru) to behave right-associatively.^[1]
• An equivalent construction can be achieved using a surrounding/circumfix ke ... ke'e pair (replacing the infix bo).

References

1. ↑ Lojban Reference Grammar, Chapter 5, §4

Mandarin

Romanization

bo (Zhuyin ㄅㄛ˙)

1. Pinyin transcription of 卜
2. Pinyin transcription of 啵
3. Pinyin transcription of 噃
4. Pinyin transcription of 蔔

bo

1. Nonstandard spelling of bō.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bó.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǒ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bò.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Nabak

Noun

bo

1. pig

References

• Corinna Handschuh, A typology of marked-S languages

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Borrowing from Middle Low German behof (compare with behov)

Noun

bo ‎(idiomatic use only)

1. (usually with ha) a need

   Jeg har bo for en hammer.‎

   I could use a hammer.

Synonyms

• behøve
• trenge
• ha bruk for

Related terms

• behov

Usage notes

A noun not commonly used.

Etymology 2

From Danish bo, from Old Norse bú ‎(“settled area, town”) (compare alternative form bu). Akin to bod ‎(“store room, booth”) and the verb bo ‎(“to live”).

Alternative forms

• bu (Nynorsk also)

Noun

bo n ‎(definite singular boet, indefinite plural bo, definite plural boa or boene)

1. one's home (mainly idiomatic)

   De giftet seg og satte bo.‎

   They married and settled down/build their home.

2. estate

   Å skifte et bo.‎

   To divide an estate.

Synonyms

• (one's home): bolig, hjem/heim
• (estate): eiendom, gods

Derived terms

See combined section below.

Etymology 3

From Danish bo, from Old Norse búa ‎(“to prepare, finish, make preparations, equip”), cognate with Old English būan, Old Frisian buwa, Old Saxon būan and Old High German būan (whence German bauen).

Alternative forms

• bu (Nynorsk also)

Verb

bo ‎(imperative bo, present tense bor, simple past bodde, past participle bodd, present participle boende)

1. to live (have permanent residence), stay

   Hvor bor du (hen)?‎

   Where do you live?

   Jeg vet hvor du bor.‎

   I know where you live.

   Hvor lenge blir du boende.‎

   How long will you be staying?

2. to be, to dwell, to be in

   Husk at all skjønnhet på jord bor i de evige ord: Jeg elsker deg.‎

   Remember that all beauty on Earth dwells in those eternal words: I love you.

   (Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson)

   Du aner ikke hva som virkelig bor i henne.‎

   You have no idea what she's really like.

   (literally: "you have no idea what really dwells in her")

Synonyms

• (to live, have residence): holde hus (holde til huse), holde til husere, kampere, leve, losjere, oppholde seg, residere, tilbringe
• (to dwell in, be in): finnes, rommes, skjule seg, være, være til stede

Derived terms

(Noun and verb)

References

• “bo” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “bo” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• search on "bo" on Ordtak.no - web site containing quotes and citations

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German behof (compare behov)

Noun

bo (idiomatic use only)

1. (usually with ha) a need

   Eg har bo for ein hammar.‎

   I could use a hammer.

Synonyms

• behøve
• trenge
• turve
• ha bruk for

Related terms

• behov

Usage notes

A noun not commonly used.

References

• “bo” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Noun

bo ?

1. (East dialect) dwelling

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ/

Conjunction

bo

1. because
2. or (else)

   Wstawaj już, bo spóźnisz się do szkoły!‎

   Get up now or you'll be late at school!

Slovene

Verb

bo

1. third-person singular future form of biti.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [buː]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse búa, from Proto-Germanic *būaną.

Verb

bo

1. live; dwell; to have permanent residence

   Jag vill bo i en stor stad.‎

   I want to live in a big city.

Conjugation

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

bo n

1. nest; the place where certain animals live, in particular birds.

   fågelbo‎

   bird’s nest

2. a home (the inventory that turns a place into a home)
   • 1893, Elias Sehlstedt, Visa

     Litet bo jag sätta vill‎

     A little home is what I want

3. c (only in compounds) a person living in given city (e.g. Londonbo) or way (sambo, särbo)

Declension

Alternative form for the definite singular: bot/bots.

Related terms

Usage notes

• The use of "bo" as a shorthand for "bostad" (housing) goes back at least to the 1920s, for example in the name of trade expos like "Bygge och Bo" (1925).

See also

• gryt
• kula
• näste
• råtthål

Tasmanian

Pronoun

bo

1. I

Synonyms

• narrar

References

• N.J.B. Plomley (1976) A word-list of the Tasmanian aboriginal languages

Venetian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *boem, from Latin bos, bovem.

Noun

bo m ‎(invariable)

1. ox

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• tiền bo

Etymology

Borrowing from French pourboire ‎(“tip, extra money given in appreciation for a rendered service”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ˀɓɔ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ˀɓɔ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ˀɓɔ˧˥]

Noun

bo

1. (money) tip, extra money given in appreciation for a rendered service

Synonyms

• tiền thưởng

Welsh

Alternative forms

• byddo

Verb

bo

1. (literary) third-person singular present subjunctive of bod

Mutation

Zulu

Pronoun

-bo

1. Combining stem of bona.

See also