ab ovo

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ab ōvō (literally “from the egg”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /æˈboʊˌvoʊ/

Adverb

ab ovo (not comparable)

1. From the beginning. [from late 16th c.]

   Coordinate term: in medias res

   • 2011, Ludwig Büchner, J. Frederick Collingwood, Force and Matter: Empirico-Philosophical Studies, Intelligibly Rendered, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:

     We should be led too far, nor would it possess sufficient interest for our readers, were we, in this place specially, to discuss this important and complicated question, and to show ab ovo why this notion has been rejected.

Translations

ab ovo

• French: ab ovo (fr)
• Norwegian Bokmål: ab ovo
• Spanish: ab ovo (es)

Further reading

• ab ovo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ab ōvō (“from the egg”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ap ˈoːvo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ab ovo

Adverb

ab ovo

1. ab ovo

References

• “ab ovo” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ab ōvō (literally “from the egg”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑːbˈoːʋɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːʋɔ
• Hyphenation: ab‧o‧vo

Adverb

ab ovo

1. (literary) ab ovo, from the beginning

   å begynne ab ovo

   to start from the beginning

   • 1867, Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Samlede Skrifter I, page 28:

     hele første akt [er] en overflødig akt, der kun viser stymperens kamp med sit stof, og hans sidste tilflugt: at begynde ab ovo

     the whole first act [is] a superfluous act showing only the stumper's struggle with his substance, and his last refuge: to begin ab ovo

   • 1869 August 10, Aftenposten:

     forfatteren fortæller sin egen livshistorie … lige ab ovo

     the author tells his own life story… just ab ovo

References

• “ab_ovo” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “ab ovo” in Store norske leksikon

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ab ōvō (literally “from the egg”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌab ˈobo/ [ˌaβ̞ ˈo.β̞o]
• Syllabification: ab o‧vo

Adverb

ab ovo

1. ab ovo

Related terms

• ab initio

 

Further reading

• “ab ovo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10