awe

See also: Awe and AWE

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ô, IPA^(key): /ɔː/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (US) enPR: ô, IPA^(key): /ɔ/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: ä, IPA^(key): /ɑ/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Homophones: aw; oar, or, ore, o'er (non-rhotic)
• Rhymes: -ɔː

Etymology 1

From Middle English aw, awe, agh, awȝe, borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, dread”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰ- (“to be upset, afraid”). Displaced native Middle English eye, eyȝe, ayȝe, eȝȝe, from Old English ege, æge (“fear, terror, dread”), from the same Proto-Germanic root.

Noun

awe (usually uncountable, plural awes)

1. A feeling of fear and reverence.
   • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, page 172:

     Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

2. A feeling of amazement.
   • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

     For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distant planet had we suddenly been miraculously transported through ether to an unknown world.

3. (archaic) Power to inspire awe.

Derived terms

• aweful
• awe-inspiring
• aweless
• awesome
• awestricken
• awestrike
• awestruck
• awe walk
• awful
• inawe
• overawe
• shock and awe
• underawe

 

Translations

feeling of fear and reverence

• Bulgarian: страхопочитание (bg) (strahopočitanie), благоговение (bg) (blagogovenie)
• Catalan: temor (ca) m, paüra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敬畏 (zh) (jìngwèi)

• Czech: strach (cs) m, hrůza (cs) f
• Danish: ærefrygt c
• Dutch: ontzag (nl) n, vrees (nl) f
• Finnish: syvä kunnioitus, kunnioittava pelko, pelko (fi), pelonsekainen kunnioitus
• French: crainte (fr) f, révérence (fr) f
• German: Ehrfurcht (de) f
• Greek: δέος (el) n (déos), σέβας (el) n (sévas)

  Ancient: ἄγος m (ágos)

• Hungarian: áhítat (hu), félelem (hu), tisztelet (hu), megilletődés (hu), megilletődöttség
• Italian: timore (it) m
• Latin: formido f
• Macedonian: стравопо́чит f (stravopóčit)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ærefrykt (no) m

• Polish: groza (pl) f, trwoga (pl) f
• Portuguese: temor (pt) m
• Russian: благогове́ние (ru) n (blagogovénije), тре́пет (ru) m (trépet)
• Serbo-Croatian: strahopoštovanje (sh) n
• Slovak: bázeň f, úcta hraničiaca so strachom
• Spanish: pavor (es) m, temor (es) m, medrosía f
• Swedish: fruktan (sv) c, bävan (sv)
• Turkish: huşu (tr)

feeling of amazement

• Czech: úžas (cs) m, údiv (cs) m, ohromení n
• Danish: ærefrygt c
• Esperanto: miro, admirego
• Finnish: hämmästys (fi), ällistys (fi)
• French: admiration (fr) f
• German: Staunen (de) n
• Greek: κατάπληξη (el) f (katáplixi)
• Hungarian: bámulat (hu), csodálat (hu), lenyűgözöttség
• Persian: تعجب (fa)
• Polish: zachwyt (pl) m
• Portuguese: espanto (pt) m, admiração (pt) f
• Russian: изумле́ние (ru) n (izumlénije)
• Slovak: úžas m
• Spanish: asombro (es) m
• Swedish: häpnad (sv), förundran (sv), förvåning (sv), bestörtning (sv)
• Turkish: huşu (tr)

Verb

awe (third-person singular simple present awes, present participle awing or aweing, simple past and past participle awed)

1. (transitive) To inspire fear and reverence in.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “1/1/3”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎^[2]:

     That large room had always awed Ivor: even as a child he had never wanted to play in it, for all that it was so limitless, the parquet floor so vast and shiny and unencumbered, the windows so wide and light with the fairy expanse of Kensington Gardens.

2. (transitive) To control by inspiring dread.
   • 1982 August 21, Bob Nelson, “Harnessing Our Anger”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 5:

     While a sense of outrage is the only rational response to atrocity, if that outrage is maintained at too high a level over too long a time it can generate feelings of impotence, as we permit ourselves to be awed by this irrational act of violence.

Synonyms

• (inspire reverence): enthral, enthrall; overwhelm

Derived terms

• awed

Translations

to inspire fear and reverence

• Bulgarian: внушавам страхопочитание (vnušavam strahopočitanie)
• Czech: vyděsit (cs) pf, vyvolat hrůzu
• Dutch: ontzag inboezemen
• Finnish: pelottaa (fi), herättää pelkoa, herättää kunnioitusta
• Greek: προκαλώ δέος (prokaló déos), καταπλήσσω (el) (kataplísso)
• Hungarian: áhítattal/​félelemmel/​tisztelettel tölt el, áhítatot/​félelmet/​megilletődést kelt, tiszteletet parancsol, lenyűgöz (hu)
• Persian: نهازیدن (fa) (nehâzidan)
• Russian: внуша́ть тре́пет (vnušátʹ trépet), внуша́ть благогове́ние (vnušátʹ blagogovénije)
• Slovak: budiť rešpekt
• Spanish: asombrar (es), abrumar (es), zozobrar (es), desasosegar (es), desosegar (es)
• Turkish: huşu uyandırmak, huşulandırmak

to control by inspiring dread

• Finnish: pelotella (fi)
• German: einschüchtern (de)
• Greek: εκφοβίζω (el) (ekfovízo)
• Hungarian: megfélemlít (hu)

Etymology 2

From French auve.

Noun

awe (plural awes)

1. (obsolete) A bucket (blade) attached to water wheels.

Further reading

• “awe, n2.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• AEW, EAW, WAE, WEA, eaw, wae

Anyi

Noun

awe

1. rice

   mɩn nin a tʋn awe.

   My mother prepared rice.

Baoule

Noun

awe

1. hunger

Gun

Etymology

From Proto-Gbe *-ve or Proto-Gbe *-we. Cognates include Fon àwè, Saxwe Gbe owè, Adja eve, Ewe eve

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /à.wè/

• Audio (Nigeria):

  (file)

Numeral

àwè

1. two

Adjective

àwè

1. two

Related terms

	1 - ɖòkpó, dòpó	2	3 - atɔ̀n, atọ̀n
cardinal number	àwè
ordinal number	àwètɔ́, àwètọ́

Maori

Etymology

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

Noun

awe

1. soot
2. white feather

Further reading

• “awe” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Mapudungun

Adverb

awe (Raguileo spelling)

1. quickly, promptly.
2. soon

Synonyms

• arol

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égʰos. Doublet of eye.

Alternative forms

• age, aghe, aȝe, ahe, au, aue, aw

Pronunciation

• (Early Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈaɣ̞ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈau̯(ə)/
• Rhymes: -au̯(ə)

Noun

awe (uncountable)

1. awe, wonder, reverence
2. fear, horror
3. that which elicits or incites horror; something horrifying

Related terms

• agheful
• aghlich (rare)
• awles (rare)
• awen (rare)

Descendants

• English: awe
• Scots: awe, aw

References

• “aue, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-11.

Etymology 2

Adverb

awe

1. Alternative form of away

Etymology 3

Noun

awe

1. Alternative form of ewe

Papiamentu

Alternative forms

• awé (alternative spelling)

Etymology

From Portuguese hoje and Spanish hoy and Kabuverdianu ochi.

Pronoun

awe

1. today

Swahili

Verb

awe

1. inflection of -wa:
   1. third-person singular subjunctive affirmative
   2. m-wa class subject inflected singular subjunctive affirmative

Tabaru

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈa.we]

Noun

awe

1. a thread

References

• Edward A. Kotynski (1988) “Tabaru phonology and morphology”, in Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, volume 32, Summer Institute of Linguistics

Tooro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /áːwe/

Pronoun

-awe (declinable)

1. your (second-person singular possessive pronoun)

Usage notes

• This modifier, when used in the indefinite forms, causes the word before it to lose its high tone.

Inflection

Inflected forms of -awe

Noun class	indefinite		definite
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1/2	waawe	baawe	owaawe	abaawe
3/4	gwawe	yaawe	ogwawe	eyaawe
5/6	lyawe	gaawe	eryawe	agaawe
7/8	kyawe	byawe	ekyawe	ebyawe
9/10	yaawe	zaawe	eyaawe	ezaawe
11/10	rwawe		orwawe
12/14	kaawe	bwawe	akaawe	obwawe
13		twawe		otwawe
14/6	bwawe	gaawe	obwawe	agaawe
15/6	kwawe		okwawe
16	haawe		ahaawe
18	mwawe		omwawe

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	abo	-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-	—

References

• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[3], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, pages 418-419

Western Arrernte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /awə/

Interjection

awe

1. yes

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /à.wé/

Noun

àwé

1. friend

   Synonyms: ọ̀rẹ́, olùkù

2. an unknown person

   Táni àwé yẹn? ― Who is that unknown person?

Usage notes

• More commonly used in Central Yoruba dialects

References

• Aremo, Bolaji (2012) How Yoruba and Igbo Became Different Languages‎^[4], Scribo Publications, →ISBN