hallo

From Middle English halou, halow, halloo (interjection used to call attention), representing Old English hēlā, ǣlā, ēalā (“O!, alas!, oh!, lo!”), equivalent to hey +‎ lo.

• IPA^(key): /həˈləʊ/, /hæˈləʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ

hallo

1. Alternative form of hello (“greeting”).
   • 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

     Hallo father, here’s Pecksniff!

2. (dated) A cry of surprise.
   • 1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 98:

     It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. The answer should give us the— But hallo! here are the accredited representatives of the law.

• (hello): See Thesaurus:hello
• (cry of surprise): See Thesaurus:wow

hallo (plural hallos or halloes)

1. The cry "hallo!"
2. A shout of exultation.

hallo (third-person singular simple present hallos or halloes, present participle halloing, simple past and past participle halloed)

1. (intransitive) To shout, or to call with a loud voice.
   • 1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby:

     Tom was just hiding behind a wall, […] but the groom saw him, and halloed to him to know where Mr. Grimes, the chimney-sweep, lived.

2. (transitive) To chase while shouting "hallo!"
3. (transitive) To cry "hallo" (to someone).
4. (transitive) To shout (something).

• lo

• holla

• IPA^(key): /ɦaləu/

• Audio:

  (file)

hallo

1. hello

Imperative of Middle High German haln (“to fetch (a ferryman)”); see German hallo.

• IPA^(key): /halɔ/, [haˈlɔ] or IPA^(key): /halɔː/, [haˈlɔː]

hallo

1. hello (a greeting usually used to answer the telephone)
2. An exclamation to get attention.
3. (as a noun, rare) n hello ("Hello!" or an equivalent greeting)

• “hallo” in Den Danske Ordbog

Borrowed from English hello, halloo, hollo.

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑˈloː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hal‧lo
• Rhymes: -oː

hallo

1. hello (a general greeting used when meeting somebody) [from 19th c.]

• Petjo: hallo
• → Indonesian: halo

• halloo

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑlˑo/, [ˈ(h)ɑlˑo]
• Rhymes: -ɑlˑo
• Hyphenation: hal‧lo

hallo

1. hello (exclamation to indicate oneself, which usually is used when starting a telephone call)
2. (informal) an exclamation indicating wonder, demand, disapproval

   Ma teen kõike üksi, hallo, mis mul viga on!

   I do everything alone, hello, what's wrong with me!

• hallo in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “hallo”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

Originally used as a call to the ferryman on the other side of the bank; related to Old High German holā, emphatic imperative of holōn (“to fetch, used especially in hailing a ferryman”), from Proto-West Germanic *holōn (“to fetch”). Also see French holà (“hey! stop!”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhalo/, /haˈloː/

• Audio:

  (file)

hallo

1. hello (a general greeting used when meeting someone)

• aber hallo

• “hallo” in Duden online
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “hello”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “hallo” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

hallo

1. hello (a greeting usually used to answer the telephone or when meeting somebody)

hallō

1. dative/ablative singular of hallus

From German hallo, Hallo.

hallo

1. hello (greeting)

• “hallo” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From German hallo, Hallo.

hallo

1. hello (greeting)

• “hallo” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from English hello, halloo, hollo.

• IPA^(key): /haˈɫoː/

hallo

1. hello

hallo

1. first-person singular present indicative of hallar

From Dutch hallo.

• IPA^(key): /haˈloː/

hallo

1. hello

• “hallo”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011