Woo

How to spell woo

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce woo

What does woo mean?

1. verbTo seek the affection, favour, or support of someone, often with persuasion or attentive effort.

Woo in a sentence

• The young suitor tried to woo her with flowers and long letters.

• The new airline launched cheaper fares to woo commuters away from rivals.

Where does woo come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English verb wōgian, meaning to court, to make love to, or to seek someone in marriage. Its deeper origins are genuinely murky; scholars have not securely linked it to any wider Germanic family, which is unusual for such an old native word. The spelling settled into the modern double-o form to capture the long 'oo' vowel, the same vowel you hear in 'moon' and 'soon'. Over the centuries the sense broadened from strictly romantic courtship to any kind of persuasive wooing, such as a company wooing customers or a candidate wooing voters. The compactness of the word, just three letters, makes it one of the shortest verbs in English, yet it carries a long history of attempted persuasion.

How the word is built

• woo (single root, from Old English wōgian: to court or seek in marriage)