"woo" meaning in Middle English

See woo in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /wɔ̝ː/, /woː/ (note: later also), /wɑː/ [Early-Middle-English], /waː/ [Northern] Forms: woos [plural], wo [alternative], wa [alternative]
Rhymes: -ɔː Etymology: From Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-Germanic *wai, from Proto-Indo-European *wai. Etymology templates: {{inh|enm|ang|wā}} Old English wā, {{inh|enm|gem-pro|*wai}} Proto-Germanic *wai, {{inh|enm|ine-pro|*wai}} Proto-Indo-European *wai Head templates: {{head|enm|noun|g=|g2=|g3=|head=|sort=}} woo, {{enm-noun}} woo (plural woos)
  1. woe, torment, anguish Synonyms: angwissh, we
    Sense id: en-woo-enm-noun-7~51Mqga Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 47 53
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Pronoun

Head templates: {{head|enm|pronoun}} woo
  1. alternative form of who (“who”, nominative) Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: who (extra: “who”, nominative)
    Sense id: en-woo-enm-pron-V73qnRzE Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Middle English pronouns Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 47 53 Disambiguation of Middle English pronouns: 38 62
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Alternative forms

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "woe"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "wa"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "wae"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wā"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wā",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wai"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wai",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*wai"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wai",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-Germanic *wai, from Proto-Indo-European *wai.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "woos",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wo",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wa",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "woo",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "woo (plural woos)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              4
            ]
          ],
          "english": "Pain and joy in this world aren't anything except for a picture; they're nothing but a mirage.",
          "ref": "c. 1225, “Feorðe dale: fondunges”, in Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402), Ludlow, Shropshire, published c. 1235, folio 65, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, 23 January 2018:",
          "text": "Ƿa ⁊ ƿunne ı þıs ƿoꝛld al nıs bute peintunge. al nıs bute ſchadeƿe.",
          "translation": "Pain and joy in this world aren't anything except for a picture; they're nothing but a mirage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "woe, torment, anguish"
      ],
      "id": "en-woo-enm-noun-7~51Mqga",
      "links": [
        [
          "woe",
          "woe"
        ],
        [
          "torment",
          "torment"
        ],
        [
          "anguish",
          "anguish"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "angwissh"
        },
        {
          "word": "we"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wɔ̝ː/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/woː/",
      "note": "later also"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɑː/",
      "tags": [
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/waː/",
      "tags": [
        "Northern"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "woo"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pronoun"
      },
      "expansion": "woo",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "pron",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "“who”, nominative",
          "word": "who"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English pronouns",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)"
      ],
      "id": "en-woo-enm-pron-V73qnRzE",
      "links": [
        [
          "who",
          "who#Middle_English:_who"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "woo"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English pronouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Pages with 9 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:Middle English/ɔː",
    "Rhymes:Middle English/ɔː/1 syllable"
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "woe"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "wa"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "wae"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wā"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wā",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wai"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wai",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*wai"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wai",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-Germanic *wai, from Proto-Indo-European *wai.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "woos",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wo",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wa",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "woo",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "woo (plural woos)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              2
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              4
            ]
          ],
          "english": "Pain and joy in this world aren't anything except for a picture; they're nothing but a mirage.",
          "ref": "c. 1225, “Feorðe dale: fondunges”, in Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402), Ludlow, Shropshire, published c. 1235, folio 65, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, 23 January 2018:",
          "text": "Ƿa ⁊ ƿunne ı þıs ƿoꝛld al nıs bute peintunge. al nıs bute ſchadeƿe.",
          "translation": "Pain and joy in this world aren't anything except for a picture; they're nothing but a mirage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "woe, torment, anguish"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "woe",
          "woe"
        ],
        [
          "torment",
          "torment"
        ],
        [
          "anguish",
          "anguish"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "angwissh"
        },
        {
          "word": "we"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wɔ̝ː/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/woː/",
      "note": "later also"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/wɑː/",
      "tags": [
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/waː/",
      "tags": [
        "Northern"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "woo"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English pronouns",
    "Pages with 9 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "pronoun"
      },
      "expansion": "woo",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "pron",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "“who”, nominative",
          "word": "who"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "who",
          "who#Middle_English:_who"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "woo"
}

Download raw JSONL data for woo meaning in Middle English (3.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.