lo
/loʊ/interjection, adjective, noun, particle
lo is spelled L-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “lo vs low” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As an interjection, lo means “look, see, behold (in an imperative sense)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lo?
| Letters | 2: L-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lo?
Lo appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lo?
- UK /ləʊ/
- US /loʊ/
- Australia /ləʉ/
As a particle (“Sentence-final particle denoting finality or completion”): [ˈloː˧˨], /ləʊ/, /loʊ/.
Lo has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lo.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lo
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: low (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lo?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lo from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lo
- 'lo
- 'llo
- los plural
- loh
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
look, see, behold (in an imperative sense).
- 2
Clipping of hello.
noun
- 1
Initialism of local oscillator.
- 2
Abbreviation of low (“low gear or low range”).
- 3
Initialism of loved one.
- 4
Initialism of little one (“one's child”).
adjective
- 1
informalInformal spelling of low.
noun
- 1
Clipping of location.
Ayo, send me your lo.
particle
- 1
Alternative form of lol.
- 2
rareSentence-final particle denoting finality or completion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense look, see, behold:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | voici, voilà |
| German | sieh, guck |
| Portuguese | ó, contemplai |
| Spanish | ve, ved, vea, veamos, vean, mirad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lo come from?
Inherited from Middle English lo, loo, from Old English lā (“exclamation of surprise, grief, or joy”). Conflated in Middle English with lo! (interjection), a corruption of lok!, loke! (“look!”) (as in lo we! (look we!)). Cognate with Scots lo, lu (“lo”). See also look.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).