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O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is o (pronounced Template:IPAc-en), plural oes.^[1]

In English, the name of the letter is the “long O” sound, pronounced Template:IPAc-en. In most other languages, its name matches the letter’s pronunciation in open syllables.

Its graphic form has remained fairly constant from Phoenician times until today. The name of the Phoenician letter was ʿeyn, meaning “eye”, and its shape originates simply as a drawing of a human eye (possibly inspired by the corresponding Egyptian hieroglyph, Template:Cf.Proto-Sinaitic script). Its original sound value was that of a consonant, probably Template:IPAblink, the sound represented by the cognate Arabic letter ع ʿayn.^[2]

The use of this Phoenician letter for a vowel sound is due to the early Greek alphabets, which adopted the letter “omicron” to represent the vowel Template:IPA. The letter was adopted with the value in the Old Italic alphabets, including the early Latin alphabet. In Greek, a variation of the form later came to differentiate this long sound (omega, meaning “large O”) from the short o (Omicron, meaning “small o”). The Greek omicron gave rise to the corresponding Cyrillic letter O.^[2][3]

The letter Template:Angbr is the fourth most common letter in the English alphabet.^[4] Like the other English vowel letters, it has associated “long” and “short” pronunciations. The “long” Template:Angbr as in boat is actually most often a diphthong Template:IPAc-en (realized dialectically anywhere from Template:IPA to Template:IPA). In English, there is also a “short” Template:Angbr as in fox, Template:IPAc-en, which sounds slightly different in different dialects. In most dialects of British English, it is either an open-mid back rounded vowel Template:IPA or an open back rounded vowel Template:IPA; in American English, it is most commonly an unrounded back Template:IPA to a central vowel Template:IPA.^[5]

Common digraphs include Template:Angbr, which represents either Template:IPAc-en or Template:IPAc-en; Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr, which typically represents the diphthong Template:IPAc-en, and Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr which represent a variety of pronunciations depending on context and etymology.^[5]

In other contexts, especially before a letter with a minim, Template:Angbr may represent the sound Template:IPAc-en, as in ‘son’ or ‘love’. It can also represent the semivowel Template:IPAc-en, as in choir or quinoa.Template:Fact

“O” in isolation is a word, also spelled “oh” and pronounced Template:IPA. Before a noun, usually capitalized, it indicates direct address (the vocative case), as in the titles “O Canada” or “O Captain! My Captain!” or in certain verses of the Bible.^[6]

Template:Angbr is commonly associated with the open-mid back rounded vowel Template:IPA, mid back rounded vowel Template:IPA or close-mid back rounded vowel Template:IPA in many languages. Other languages use Template:Angbr for various values, usually back vowels which are at least partly open. Derived letters such as Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr have been created for the alphabets of some languages to distinguish values that were not present in Latin and Greek, particularly rounded front vowels.Template:Fact

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, Template:Angbr IPA represents the close-mid back rounded vowel.^[7]

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• Oxygen, symbol O, a chemical element

See also: circle symbol|Circle symbol (disambiguation)|circle symbol

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• 𐤏 : Semitic letter Ayin, from which the following symbols originally derive:

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¹ Template:MidsizeTemplate:Fact

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• O mark
• Open O (Ɔ ɔ)
• 0 (zero). The capital letter O may be mistaken or misused for the number 0, as they appear quite identical in some typefaces. Early typewriters did not have a ‘zero’ key.

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1. ↑ “O” Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989);Chambers-Happap, “oes” op. cit. Oes is the plural of the name of the letter. The plural of the letter itself is rendered Os, O’s, os, o’s.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} “Evolution of Alphabets” —  {{{date}}}
3. ↑ “Cyrillic script” —  {{{date}}}
4. ↑ “Frequency Table” —  {{{date}}}
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} “International Phonetic Alphabet for American English – IPA Chart” —  {{{date}}}
6. ↑ “Quick search: “o lord”” —  {{{date}}}
7. ↑ “IPA Chart with Sounds – International Phonetic Alphabet Sounds” —  {{{date}}}
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named unicode2006
9. ↑ “Earliest Uses of Symbols of Set Theory and Logic” —  {{{date}}}
10. ↑ “Script (or Calligraphic)” —  {{{date}}}