Ado

How to spell ado

3 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ado

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ado mean?

1. nounTrouble, fuss, or commotion, especially over something of little importance.

Ado in a sentence

• Without further ado, the chairperson opened the meeting.

• The team installed the new software with very little ado.

Where does ado come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

Ado comes from the Middle English phrase 'at do', literally meaning 'to do', which arose in the northern dialects of England. The little word 'at' here was borrowed from Old Norse, where it served as the marker placed before a verb in the infinitive, exactly the way standard English uses 'to'. So 'at do' meant simply 'to do', and over time the two words fused into the single noun 'ado', carrying the sense of activity, business, or fuss being done. By the time it settled into the language in the fourteenth century it had taken on the flavour of needless bustle or trouble over something trivial. Shakespeare made the word permanently familiar through the play title 'Much Ado About Nothing', and its slightly old-fashioned ring is why it now survives mostly in the fixed phrase 'without further ado'. The single 'd' is the spelling trap, since the word looks as though it might double the consonant like 'adder' or 'addition'.

How the word is built

• at (Old Norse infinitive marker, equivalent to 'to')
• do (verb)