Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

owe

/oʊ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.13 in modern English

Syllables: owe
IPA: /oʊ/

6

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.

verb

To have debt; to be in debt.

Intransitive verb

verb

To have as a cause; used with to.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future."
"I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week."
"This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour."
"VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:"
"[…] To you, Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love; And from your love I have a warranty To unburden all my plots and purposes How to get clear of all the debts I owe."
"He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe Proto-Germanic *aiganą Proto-West Germanic *aigan Old English āgan Middle English owen English owe From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: owen, āgan, *aigan, *aiganą, *h₂eh₂óyḱe

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /oʊ/
British English: /əʊ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

owes (present, singular) owing (participle, present) owed (past) ought (archaic, past) owed (participle, past) ought (archaic, participle) own (archaic, participle)

Derived Forms

ower

Phrases

how much do I owe you owe it to oneself owe out owe someone one the world owes one a living to what do I owe the pleasure

Homonyms

o oh (toe–tow merger) oh eau oe

Rhymes With

so no so-so know go show though oh ago low although co

Questions

How do you pronounce owe?: The recorded pronunciation is /oʊ/.
What does owe mean?: To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
Where does owe come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce owe

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “owe”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/oʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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