zo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "zo"

Languages (27)

English

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Achang • Albanian • Atayal • Cimbrian • Dutch • Esperanto • Guianese Creole • Haitian Creole • Italian • Japanese • Kamkata-viri • Louisiana Creole • Mizo • Nupe • Polabian • Réunion Creole French • Rikbaktsa • Rohingya • Saaroa • Slovak • Tooro • Torres Strait Creole • Uzbek • Xhosa • Yola • Zulu

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Page categories

English

Noun

zo (plural zos)

1. Alternative spelling of dzo.

Anagrams

• Oz, oz, oz.

Achang

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzaʔ (“to eat”).

Pronunciation

• (Myanmar) /dzɔ˧/
• (Lianghe) [tɕɑ³¹]
• (Longchuan) [tɕɔ³¹]
• (Luxi) [tsa⁵¹]
• (Xiandao) [cɔ³¹]

Verb

zo

1. to eat

Derived terms

• zo puh
• zonoms

Further reading

• Inglis, Douglas; Sampu, Nasaw; Jaseng, Wilai; Jana, Thocha (2005), A preliminary Ngochang–Kachin–English Lexicon‎^[1], Payap University, page 152

Albanian

Etymology

From *zᵃo < *zaᵒ < za, Gheg form of Standard zë.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [zo]

Noun

zó m (plural zona, definite zoni, definite plural zonat)

1. northeastern Gheg form of zë (“voice”)

Declension

Declension of zo

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	zo	zoni	zona	zonat
accusative		zonin
dative	zoni	zonit	zonave	zonave
ablative			zonash

Atayal

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 象 (zō).

Noun

zo

1. elephant

References

• “zo”, in 原住民族語言線上辭典 [Online Dictionary of Indigenous Languages]‎^[2] (in Mandarin), Taipei: 財團法人原住民族語言研究發展基金會 [Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation], 2014–2026

Cimbrian

Etymology

Ultimately from both Proto-Germanic *ta and *tō. Cognate with German zu; see there for more.

Preposition

zo (Luserna)

1. to
2. regarding

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Dutch

Alternative forms

• (archaic) zoo, so, soo

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sô, from Old Dutch sō, from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from a merger of Proto-Germanic *swa and *swē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zoː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zo
• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

zo

1. so, thus, like that/this

   Is het zo goed, of wil je nog meer? ― Is it good like this, or do you want more?

2. so, that, to such an extent

   Het is hier zo koud dat ik sta te beven. ― It is so cold here that I'm standing here shaking.

   Echt? Zo koud is het niet, hoor. ― Really? It's not that cold.

3. (zo ... als) as .. as

   zo groot als een huis ― as big as a house

4. (stressed) right away, in a second/minute, very soon

   Ik zal je zo komen helpen, ik ben nu even bezig. ― I will come and help you in a second, I'm busy right now.

   Het komt er zo aan! ― Coming right up! [a meal etc.]

Derived terms

• daarzo
• hierzo
• hoezo
• ziezo
• zo-even
• zoal
• zoals
• zodanig
• zodat
• zodoende
• zojuist
• zonet
• zopas
• zostraks

Descendants

• Afrikaans: so
• Javindo: so
• Jersey Dutch: zô
• Negerhollands: soo, so, sa
• Petjo: so, soo, zo, zoo
• Skepi Creole Dutch: so

Conjunction

zo

1. (somewhat formal) if

   Zo mogelijk zou ik eerst nog even naar de WC willen. ― If possible, I'd like to go to the toilet first.

   Heeft u bezwaren? Zo ja, gelieve te verduidelijken. ― Do you have any objections? If so, please elaborate.

Derived terms

• zo niet

Descendants

• Afrikaans: so
• Negerhollands: soo, so

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zo/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification: zo

Noun

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

1. The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.

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

Further reading

• “zo”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “zo”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Guianese Creole

Etymology

From French les os (“bones”).

Noun

zo

1. bone

References

• Barthelemi, Georges (1995), Dictionnaire pratique créole guyanais - français [Practical Guianese Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Cayenne: Ibis Rouge Éditions, →ISBN, page 210

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French os (“bones”). In French, the plural form os is commonly preceded by a determiner- such as aux, les or mes- whose final s or x is pronounced /z/ before vowels (and is otherwise silent). As a result, os was reanalyzed in Haitian Creole as beginning with /z/.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zo/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

zo

1. bone
2. dice

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[3], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 208

Italian

Noun

zo m (invariable)

1. misspelling of zoo

Japanese

Romanization

zo

1. The hiragana syllable ぞ (zo) or the katakana syllable ゾ (zo) in Hepburn romanization.

Kamkata-viri

Alternative forms

• zu (Western (Ktivi))
• zõ (Northeastern)
• j̈õ (Southeastern)

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *j̈ānu, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́ā́nu, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu.

Noun

zo m (Western)

1. knee

Louisiana Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zo/
• Rhymes: -o

Pronoun

zo

1. alternative form of vouzòt (“you, y'all; your, y'all's”)

Mizo

Etymology 1

Adjective

zo

1. high (in elevation)

Derived terms

• Mizo

Etymology 2

Verb

zo (stem II zawh)

1. to finish, conclude
   • Vanglaini, 18 August 2025

     Weightlifting inelna an zo

     Weightlifting competitions conclude

Etymology 3

Verb

zo (stem II zawh)

1. to be able to, capable of

   Synonym: thei

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “zo”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Nupe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zō/

Verb

zo

1. to finish; to end

   Synonym: wòla

   Nuwan á zo kpáátá. ― The water has completely finished.

2. to complete; to accomplish

Polabian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʰe?

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰō

Proto-Balto-Slavic *źō

Proto-Slavic *za

Polabian zo

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *za.

Preposition

zo [with accusative]

1. for

Réunion Creole French

Etymology

From French les os.

Noun

zo

1. bone

References

• Armand, Alain (1987), Dictionnaire Kréol rénioné/Français [Reunionese Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Océan Éditions, →ISBN, page 395

Rikbaktsa

Noun

zo

1. dad, father (one's male parent)

   Coordinate term: je (“mother”)

References

• Tremaine, Sheila (2007), “zo”, in Dicionário Rikbaktsa-Português Português-Rikbaktsa [Rikbaktsa-Portuguese Portuguese-Rikbaktsa Dictionary] (overall work in Portuguese), Curitiba: SIL Global, page 37, column 1

Rohingya

Verb

zo

1. to go

Saaroa

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 象(ぞう) (zō).

Noun

zo

1. elephant

References

• 台灣原住民族語借詞詞彙彙編—拉阿魯哇語/A Glossary of Loanwords in Hla’alua

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɔ/, [ˈzɔ]
• Rhymes: -ɔ

Preposition

zo (+ genitive)

1. alternative form of z

Usage notes

• Used before words starting with the letters z, ž, s, š and certain consonant clusters.

Further reading

• “zo”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Tooro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zo/

Pronoun

zo

1. class 10 of -o: they

Derived terms

• -azo (“their (class 10)”)

See also

Tooro personal pronouns

class	person	independent	possessive	subject concord	object concord	combined forms
						na	ni
class 1	first	nyowe, nye	-ange	n-	-n-	nanyowe, nanye	ninyowe, ninye
	second	iwe	-awe	o-	-ku-	naiwe	niiwe
	third	uwe	-e	a-	-mu-	nawe	nuwe
class 2	first	itwe	-aitu	tu-	-tu-	naitwe	niitwe
	second	inywe	-anyu	mu-	-ba-	nainywe	niinywe
	third	bo	-abo	ba-	-ba-	nabo	nubo
class 3		gwo	-agwo	gu-	-gu-	nagwo	nugwo
class 4		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
class 5		lyo	-alyo	li-	-li-	nalyo	niryo
class 6		go	-ago	ga-	-ga-	nago	nugo
class 7		kyo	-akyo	ki-	-ki-	nakyo	nikyo
class 8		byo	-abyo	bi-	-bi-	nabyo	nibyo
class 9		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
class 10		zo	-azo	zi-	-zi-	nazo	nizo
class 11		rwo	-arwo	ru-	-ru-	narwo	nurwo
class 12		ko	-ako	ka-	-ka-	nako	nuko
class 13		two	-atwo	tu-	-tu-	natwo	nutwo
class 14		bwo	-abwo	bu-	-bu-	nabwo	nubwo
class 15		kwo	-akwo	ku-	-ku-	nakwo	nukwo
class 16		ho	-aho	ha-	-ha-	naho	nuho
class 17		(kwo)	N/A	ha- (...-yo)	-ha-	N/A	nukwo
class 18		(mwo)	-amwo	ha- (...-mu)	-ha-	N/A	numwo
reflexive		-enyini, -onyini	—		-e-	—

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English jaw.

Noun

zo

1. chin

Uzbek

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ظَاء (ẓāʔ).

Noun

zo

1. the Arabic letter ظ

Declension

Declension of zo

	singular	plural
nominative	zo	zolar
genitive	zoning	zolarning
dative	zoga	zolarga
definite accusative	zoni	zolarni
locative	zoda	zolarda
ablative	zodan	zolardan
similative	zodek	zolardek

Possessive forms of zo

1st person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	zoim	zolarim
genitive	zoimning	zolarimning
dative	zoimga	zolarimga
definite accusative	zoimni	zolarimni
locative	zoimda	zolarimda
ablative	zoimdan	zolarimdan
similative	zoimdek	zolarimdek
2nd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	zoing	zolaring
genitive	zoingning	zolaringning
dative	zoingga	zolaringga
definite accusative	zoingni	zolaringni
locative	zoingda	zolaringda
ablative	zoingdan	zolaringdan
similative	zoingdek	zolaringdek
3rd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	zoi	zolari
genitive	zoining	zolarining
dative	zoiga	zolariga
definite accusative	zoini	zolarini
locative	zoida	zolarida
ablative	zoidan	zolaridan
similative	zoidek	zolaridek
1st person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	zoimiz	zolarimiz
genitive	zoimizning	zolarimizning
dative	zoimizga	zolarimizga
definite accusative	zoimizni	zolarimizni
locative	zoimizda	zolarimizda
ablative	zoimizdan	zolarimizdan
similative	zoimizdek	zolarimizdek
2nd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	zoingiz	zolaringiz
genitive	zoingizning	zolaringizning
dative	zoingizga	zolaringizga
definite accusative	zoingizni	zolaringizni
locative	zoingizda	zolaringizda
ablative	zoingizdan	zolaringizdan
similative	zoingizdek	zolaringizdek
3rd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	zoi	zolari
genitive	zoining	zolarining
dative	zoiga	zolariga
definite accusative	zoini	zolarini
locative	zoida	zolarida
ablative	zoidan	zolaridan
similative	zoidek	zolaridek

Xhosa

Pronoun

-zo

1. Combining stem of zona.

Yola

Alternative forms

• zoo, sae

Etymology

From Middle English so, sa, from Old English swā, from Proto-West Germanic *swā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɔː/, /seː/

Adverb

zo

1. so
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG“, number 1, page 84:

     Fᴀᴅᴇ teil thee zo lournagh, co Joane, zo knaggee?

     Wʜᴀᴛ ails you so melancholy, quoth John, so cross?

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG“, number 1, page 84:

     Huck nigher; y'art scuddeen; fartoo zo hachee?

     Come nearer; you're rubbing your back; why so ill tempered?

Adjective

zo

1. so
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG“, number 10, page 88:

     Tommeen was lous, an zo was ee baree.

     Tommy was open, and so was the goal.

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG“, number 10, page 88:

     Oore hart cam' t' oore mouth, an zo w' all ee green;

     Our hearts came to our mouth, and so with all in the green;

Interjection

zo

1. so
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG“, number 14, page 90:

     Zo bless all oore frends, an God zpeed ee plowe.

     So bless all our friends, and God speed the plough.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, pages 82, 84, 88, 90

Zulu

Pronoun

-zo

1. Combining stem of zona.