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okay

 - 6 dictionary results

o⋅kay

  [oh-key, oh-key, oh-key]
Use okay in a Sentence
–adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, verb (used with object)
OK.

OK

  [oh-key, oh-key, oh-key] adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, plural OK's, verb, OK'd, OK'ing.
–adjective
1. all right; proceeding normally; satisfactory or under control: Things are OK at the moment.
2. correct, permissible, or acceptable; meeting standards: Is this suit OK to wear to a formal party?
3. doing well or in good health; managing adequately: She's been OK since the operation.
4. adequate but unexceptional or unremarkable; tolerable: The job they did was OK, nothing more.
5. estimable, dependable, or trustworthy; likable: an OK person.
–adverb
6. all right; well enough; successfully; fine: She'll manage OK on her own. He sings OK, but he can't tap dance.
7. (used as an affirmative response) yes; surely.
8. (used as an interrogative or interrogative tag) all right?; do you agree?
–interjection
9. (used to express agreement, understanding, acceptance, or the like): OK, I'll get it for you.
10. (used as an introductory or transitional expletive): OK, now where were we?
–noun
11. an approval, agreement, or endorsement: They gave their OK to her leave of absence.
–verb (used with object)
12. to put one's endorsement on or indicate one's approval of (a request, piece of copy, bank check, etc.); authorize; initial: Would you OK my application?
Also, O.K., okay.

Origin:
initials of a facetious folk phonetic spelling, e.g., oll or orl korrect representing all correct, first attested in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1839, then used in 1840 by Democrat partisans of Martin Van Buren during his election campaign, who allegedly named their organization, the O.K. Club, in allusion to the initials of Old Kinderhook, Van Buren's nickname, derived from his birthplace Kinderhook, New York

Usage note:
Few Americanisms have been more successful than ok, which survived the political campaign of 1840 that fostered it, quickly lost its political significance, and went on to develop use as a verb, adverb, noun, and interjection. The expression was well known in England by the 1880s. Today ok has achieved worldwide recognition and use. It occurs in all but the most formal speech and writing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To okay
OK 1 or o·kay   (ō-kā')   
n.   pl. OK's or o·kays
Approval; agreement: Get your supervisor's OK before taking a day off.
adj.  

  1. Agreeable; acceptable: Was everything OK with your stay?

  2. Satisfactory; good: an OK fellow.

  3. Not excellent and not poor; mediocre: made an OK presentation.

  4. In proper or satisfactory operational or working order: Is the battery OK?

  5. Correct: That answer is OK.

  6. Uninjured; safe: The skier fell but was OK.

  7. Fairly healthy; well: Thanks to the medicine, the patient was OK.

adv.  Fine; well enough; adequately: a television that works OK despite its age.
interj.  Used to express approval or agreement.
tr.v.   OK'ed or OK'd or o·kayed, OK'·ing or o·kay·ing, OK's or o·kays
To approve of or agree to; authorize.

[Abbreviation of oll korrect, slang respelling of all correct.]
Word History: OK is a quintessentially American term that has spread from English to many other languages. Its origin was the subject of scholarly debate for many years until Allen Walker Read showed that OK is based on a joke of sorts. OK is first recorded in 1839 but was probably in circulation before that date. During the 1830s there was a humoristic fashion in Boston newspapers to reduce a phrase to initials and supply an explanation in parentheses. Sometimes the abbreviations were misspelled to add to the humor. OK was used in March 1839 as an abbreviation for all correct, the joke being that neither the O nor the K was correct. Originally spelled with periods, this term outlived most similar abbreviations owing to its use in President Martin Van Buren's 1840 campaign for reelection. Because he was born in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and the abbreviation proved eminently suitable for political slogans. That same year, an editorial referring to the receipt of a pin with the slogan O.K. had this comment: "frightful letters ... significant of the birth-place of Martin Van Buren, old Kinderhook, as also the rallying word of the Democracy of the late election, 'all correct' .... Those who wear them should bear in mind that it will require their most strenuous exertions ... to make all things O.K."
o·kay   (ō-kā')   
n.   , adj., adv. & v.
Variant of OK1.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
OK

and okay
  1. interj.
    accepted; agreed. (Initialism. From a jocular, mispelled abbreviation Oll Kerrect.) : So, he said, like, “okay,” and, like, I go “okay.” So we both go “Okay.” Okay?
  2. mod.
    acceptable. : This cake is okay, but not what I would call first rate.
  3. mod.
    acceptably. : She ran okay—nothing spectacular.
  4. n.
    (someone's) acceptance. : I won't give the final okay until I see the plans.
  5. tv.
    to approve something. : She refused to okay our plans.

  6. Go to ak. :
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

OK 
1839, only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (cf. K.G. for "no go," as if spelled "know go"); in this case, "oll korrect." Further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc. The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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