och

Alternative forms

• ach, ock

Etymology

Compare Early Modern English och, Scottish Gaelic och, Irish och. Compare also Scots ach, Scots ouch.

Pronunciation

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready. Particularly: "preferrably someone from Scotland or Ireland"

• IPA^(key): /ɒx/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒx

Interjection

och

1. (chiefly Scotland, Ireland) general interjection of confirmation, affirmation, and often disapproval.
2. (chiefly Scotland, Ireland) an expression of anger, frustration, surprise
   • 2014 September 14, “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     “Och, ooh, it’s so confusing, it hurts my wee head! I’m just a woman, you know, just a pair of ovaries and some bangs! How do I have the mental capacity to pick from one of two options? Put me down for a no, and never trust me with an important decision again!”

Anagrams

• COH, Cho, HoC, CHO, HCO, OHC

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔx

Interjection

och

1. alas

Verb

och

1. to enter

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔx/

Interjection

och

1. expressing endearment, pity, consideration, etc.

   Och, wie süß! ― Oh, how sweet!

   Och, Schatz! Das wird schon wieder! ― Oh, darling! It'll all be fine!

   Och, das ist eigentlich keine schlechte Idee! ― Hm, that's actually not a bad idea!

Noun

och

1. opossum

Etymology

From a Middle High German contraction och or possibly *uch, from ouch, from Old High German ouh, from Proto-Germanic *auk. Cognate with German auch (“also”), Dutch ook (“also”), West Frisian ek (“also, too”), Icelandic og (“and”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oχ/

  Rhymes: -oχ

Adverb

och

1. also
2. even

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *oxъ. Compare Latin oh, German oh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔx
• Syllabification: och
• Homophone: -och

Interjection

och

1. oh! (expresses surprise or realization)

   Synonyms: ach, ojej, ależ

Further reading

• och in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• och in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Alternative forms

• otg (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran)
• ot (Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin octō.

Number

och

1. (Puter) eight

Interjection

och

1. alas

Alternative forms

• o, o̲, å (colloquial (speech))

Etymology

From Old Swedish ock, ok, from Old Norse ok, unstressed variant of Proto-Germanic *auk (“also”). Cognate with Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic og, Dutch ook, German auch, and English eke. The unusual spelling with the digraph ch may have been to avoid confusion with the now dated ock (“too, also”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ/, (stressed) /ɔkː/

• Audio (Gotland):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔk
• Homophone: ock

Conjunction

och

1. and; used to connect two homogeneous (similar) words or phrases

   Jag gillar hundar och katter. ― I like dogs and cats.

2. and; used to denote the last item of a list

   Synonyms: o̲, &

   äpplen, apelsiner och päron ― apples, oranges and pears

3. (mathematics) and, plus

   Synonym: plus

   Två och tre är fem. ― Two and three is five.

4. used to connect two finite verbs to denote that the two actions are performed at the same time, often used similarly to the gerund in other languages

   Jag sitter och läser. ― I'm sitting and reading.

5. to; in order to; used to connect two finite verbs to denote that the first is done in order to be able to do the second

   Ska vi gå och bada? ― Should we go swimming?

6. (poetic) introduces a main clause which somehow is bound to a previous clause

   Och det vart afton, och det vart morgon, den andra dagen.

   And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Interjection

och

1. (colloquial) and, so, so what

   "Du parkerar din bil framför mitt hus varje morgon." — "Och?"

   "You park your car in front of my house every morning." — "So?"

References

• och in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• och in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)