English Wordbook/O
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< English Wordbook
Staff O of the English Wordbook.
Basic abbreviations: att'd=attested, OE=Old English, NHG=New High German, Du.=Dutch
For a full list of etymological and other abbreviations used in these wordlists, see Forshortenings.
| English | Word Class | Anglish | ||
| Attested | Not attested | |||
| obedient | adj | hearsome | bowel (<OE beogol) | |
| obedience | n | hearsomeness | - | |
| obelisk | n | - | stonerock (<OE stanrocc) | |
| obfuscate | vb | becloud | - | |
| obituary | n | death(s)writ | - | |
| objectionable | adj | - | forwarply (cf. NHG verwerflich) | |
| object | n | gainstand | - | |
| objective | n | goal | - | |
| obligate | vb | bind, make | - | |
| obligation | n | binding, making | needness (<OE néadignes) | |
| obliged | adj | beholden, fain | - | |
| oblique | adj | slanting, sideways | - | |
| obliquely | adv | aslant, athwart | - | |
| oblivion | n | mindloss | forgottenhood | |
| obscene | adj | foul, smutty | - | |
| obscure | vb | darken, bedim, befog, overmist, overshadow | darkle, bethester | |
| obscure | adj | thester, dim, unlit, swart, overmisted, shady | unswotel | |
| obsequious | adj | cringing, beggarly, bootlicking, brownnosing, fawning, groveling, sniveling, spineless | - | |
| observant | adj | underlookly, mindful, godfearing, watchful, bewitting | yeming | |
| observe | vb | underlook, waretake, bewit, watch, follow, keep, look at, mind | yeme (<OE gieman) | |
| obsess | vb | dwell on, grip | - | |
| obsidian | n | - | lavaglass (<Du lavaglas) | |
| obsolete | adj | - | out of brook forolden (cf. Dn. forældet) | |
| obstacle | n | hindering, hedge | - | |
| obstinate | adj | cranky, balky, bullish, bullheaded, headstrong, mulish, strong-minded, stubborn, unbending, unflinching, unyielding, wayward, willful | - | |
| obstetrics | n | birthlore | - | |
| obstruct | vb | hinder, hold up, waylay, forslow | - | |
| obstruction | n | hindering, hinderness, hitch, snag | - | |
| obstructive | adj | hindersome | - | |
| obtain | vb | fornim, fortake, get, win, come by, get, nim | beget, underfang (<OE underfón), beshape (cf. NHG beschaffen) | |
| obvious | adj | straightforward | - | |
| occasion | n | - | sele (<OE sæl), marked time, mal | |
| occasionally | adv | sometimes, now and then | - | |
| occident(al) | n/adj | west(ern) | - | |
| occupied | adj | busy | besat | |
| occur | vb | happen, befall, come about | betide | |
| occurence | n | come-about, happening | - | |
| ocean | n | - | highsea, fivelway (<OE fifelwæg) | |
| October | n | - | Winterfulth | |
| octopus | n | - | armfish, coalcrab (cf. Ic. kolkrabbi) | |
| odds | n | otherness (at odds) | - | |
| odour | n | smell, stench | - | |
| oenophilia | n | - | winelust | |
| oesophagus | n | - | foodway | |
| offend | vb | smite, upset, gall, wound | - | |
| offer | vb | bequeath, agive | lofe | |
| offering | n | agiving | lac (<OE lác) | |
| office | n | - | ambight (<OE ambiht; c.f. OHG ambaht, NHG Amt, Ic. ambátt, Dan embede, Goth andbahti) | |
| officer | n | sheriff, beadle | - | |
| official | n | steward, sheriff, reeve | - | |
| official language | n | - | besteering shiretounge | |
| oil | n | - | lime, fattybree | |
| ointment | n | salve | - | |
| okay | adj | alright | - | |
| old fashioned | adj | stick-in-the-mud | - | |
| Old Testament | n | - | Old Bond, Lawsetness (<OE ǽgesetnes), Law-Giving | |
| oleaginous | adj | - | limy | |
| olfactory | adj | smell | - | |
| -ology | suffix | -lore, -alogy (alog + -y) | - | |
| omen | n | - | foretoken, foreboding | |
| ominous | adj | foreboding | - | |
| omit | vb | leave out, drop | underlet (cf. NHG unterlassen) | |
| omnipotence | n | - | all-might, almightihood, almightiness, allwald, alwaldihood | |
| omnipotent | adj | - | almighty | |
| omniscient | adj | all-knowing | - | |
| onanism | n | - | onandom, wansowing | |
| onion | n | - | ramson | |
| operate | vb | work, run | bedrive (calque of NHG betreiben) | |
| operate, medically | vb | sithe | - | |
| operating system | n | working setup | - | |
| opinion | n | belief, thought, think-so, insight, penny's worth | p'worth (contraction of PW) | |
| opponent | n | witherling | - | |
| opportune | adj | timely, well-timed | haplike (<OE gehæplice) | |
| opportunity | n | opening | - | |
| oppose | vb | gainstand, thwart | witherstand (cf. NHG widerstehen) sake (<OE sacan) | |
| as opposed to | phrase | - | as athwart from, over-against | |
| opposite | n | - | gainmatch, witherdeal | |
| opposite | adj | withering | overright (Dorset), athwart (with object), fornent (Northern) | |
| opposition | n | - | gainstanders, gainstanding, thwarter, witherstand (cf. NHG Widerstand), againsthood | |
| in opposition to | phrase | standing against | withering to | |
| oppressed | adj | downtrodden | - | |
| opprobrium | n | shame | - | |
| optics | n | lightlore | - | |
| optimum | adj | best | - | |
| optimism | n | yaysaying, hopethinking | - | |
| optimist | n | yaysayer, hopethinker | - | |
| optional | adj | costly, freechoicy, freewantly | - | |
| oral | adj | - | mouthly (cf. NHG mündlich) | |
| orange (color) | adj | - | fallhue, yellowred (<OE geoluhread), duskhue, dusk | |
| orange (fruit) | "n" | - | glowalden | |
| orangutan | n | - | redape | |
| oratory | n | - | speechcraft | |
| orbit | vb/n | - | spor (cf. Ic. sporbraut)
wreathe, path-bow, world-bow, wharveway | |
| orchestra | n | - | swaygathering | |
| orchid | n | - | ballockwort (<ME beallocwirt), wombbloom, wombblossom | |
| ordain | vb | set up to happen | tee (<OE teon) | |
| order (command) | n | - | behest | |
| order (as in "out of order") | n | kilter | - | |
| order | vb |
bebid (<OE bebod) behote (<OE behatan) befall (cf. Du bevelen) | ||
| order (religious organization) | n | brotherhood, fellowship | - | |
| orderly | adj | smooth, well-run, shipshape, trim, spotless | - | |
| ordination | n | - | hading (<OE hádung) | |
| organ, body & tool | n | - | workern (calque) | |
| organ, musical | n | - | swinworkern (synthesised from calque) | |
| organization | n | - | shiplay (calque of Ic. skipulag) | |
| organize | vb | stight | shiplay (calque of Ic. skipuleggja) | |
| orgy, sexual | n | - | sunderfuck, clusterfuck | |
| orient(al) | n/adj | east(ern) | - | |
| orifice | n | hole, mouth, opening | - | |
| origin | n | root, wellspring, beginning, birth, stem |
frimth (<OE frumþ/frymþ) ord (OE) cause: frume (<OE fruma) upspring (<OE upspring - origin, birth, rising up; in the Merr.-Web online wordbook) andstanding (cf. NHG Entstehung) | |
| original | adj | first, new, fresh | ordly | |
| original | n | firstling | - | |
| originate | vb | stem | andstand (cf. NHG entstehen) | |
| ornament | n | - | frettowedness (<OE frætwednes), frettowing (<OE frætwung), gleng (<OE gleng) | |
| ornament | vb | bedeck, deck, trim | frettow (<OE frætwian), gleng/gling (<OE glengan) | |
| ornamentation | n | - | glengness (<OE glengness) | |
| ornithology | n | - | birdlore | |
| orthodox | adj | mainstream, by-the-book (religiously) | lieful (<OE léafful) | |
| orthographically | adj | spellingwise | - | |
| orthography | n | spelling | - | |
| osteology | n | - | bonelore | |
| osteoporosis | n | bonethinning (cf. Ice. beinþynning) | - | |
| ostrich | n | - | strutter (<OE stryta) | |
| outcry | n | uproar | - | |
| outdated | n | outworn | ||
| outmanoeuvre | vb | outsmart, outshine, outwit | - | |
| outperform | vb | outdo, outshine | - | |
| overbalance | vb | - | (be)tip(ped) | |
| overcharge | vb | overload, overweigh | - | |
| overemphasize | vb | overplay, overshow | - | |
| oviraptor philoceratops | n | - | eggsnatcher | |
| ovum | n | eggling | - | |
| oxygen | n | breath of life | windstuff, sourwater-maker, sourstuff | |
| oyster | n | clam | - | |
