yo
yo Lexical Profile
yo Game Scores & Validity
• interjection
Used as an informal greeting, to attract someone's attention, or to express affirmation, surprise, or emphasis.
"Yo, have you seen my keys anywhere on the counter?"
American Used to indicate one's presence during a roll call.
"When the sergeant called his name during morning muster, the recruit answered with a sharp "Yo!""
• pronoun
American A gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun used in some urban dialects to refer to a person regardless of gender.
"The linguists noted how students in Baltimore used "yo" as a gender-neutral pronoun when referring to a classmate."
• Rhymes for yo
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Attested since Middle English as a natural exclamation used to call attention or urge effort, its modern informal usage as a greeting gained widespread popularity in 20th-century American English, particularly in Philadelphia and Italian-American communities before spreading through hip-hop culture.