From Middle English so, swo, zuo, swa, swe, from Old English swā, swǣ, swē (“so, as, the same, such, that”), from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from Proto-Germanic *swa, *swē (“so”), from Proto-Indo-European *swē, *swō (reflexive pronomial stem). Cognate with Scots sae (“so”), Saterland Frisian so (“so”), West Frisian sa (“so”), Dutch zo (“so”), German Low German so (“so”), German so (“so”), Danish så (“so”), Norwegian Nynorsk so (“so”), Swedish så (“so, such that”), Faroese so (“so”), Icelandic svo (“so”), Old Latin suad (“so”), Albanian sa (“how much, so, as”), Ancient Greek ὡς (hōs, “as”), Urdu سو (sō, “hence”).
1
Reduced Reduced form of 'so that', used to express purpose; in order that.
I got an earlier train to work so I'd have plenty of time to prepare for the meeting.
Eat your broccoli so you can have dessert.
2
As a result; for that reason; therefore; because of this; due to this.
I was hungry, so I asked if there was any more food.
He ate too much cake and so he fell ill.
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He wanted a book, so he went to the library.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” ― “So go!”
Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’[…].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
3
Used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question.
So how does this story end?
4
Used to introduce a rhetorical question.
“We'd like to visit but I don't know if we can afford a hotel.” — “So who's staying in a hotel? Stay with us.”
5
Archaic Provided that; on condition that; as long as.
Speed. ‘Item: She doth talk in her sleep.’ Launce. It’s no matter for that, so she sleep not in her talk.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
As we cal money not onely that which is true and good, but also the false; so it be currant.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 18, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
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[…] though all the windes of doctrin were let loose play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licencing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength.1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 35:
I went away very well satisfy’d, not caring where I was sent, so it was but out of his Sight; for he now became more my Aversion than ever.1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 111:
From Middle English so, swo, zuo, swa, swe, from Old English swā, swǣ, swē (“so, as, the same, such, that”), from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from Proto-Germanic *swa, *swē (“so”), from Proto-Indo-European *swē, *swō (reflexive pronomial stem). Cognate with Scots sae (“so”), Saterland Frisian so (“so”), West Frisian sa (“so”), Dutch zo (“so”), German Low German so (“so”), German so (“so”), Danish så (“so”), Norwegian Nynorsk so (“so”), Swedish så (“so, such that”), Faroese so (“so”), Icelandic svo (“so”), Old Latin suad (“so”), Albanian sa (“how much, so, as”), Ancient Greek ὡς (hōs, “as”), Urdu سو (sō, “hence”).
You behaviour so incensed me that I even thought of firing you.
It was so cold a day that I could hardly breathe outside.
So ridiculously did I do in the exam that mom grounded me for a month.
Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’[…].” So I started to back away again into the bushes. But I hadn't backed more'n a couple of yards when I see something so amazing that I couldn't help scooching down behind the bayberries and looking at it.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
2
To the (implied) extent.
I need a piece of cloth so long. [= this long]
We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
3
Very (positive or negative clause).
I feel so much better now.
I so nearly lost my temper.
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It’s not so bad. [i.e. it's acceptable]
Captain Edward Carlisle[…]felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,[…]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
4
Very much.
But I so want to see the Queen when she visits our town!
Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
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I so wanted to be Jess Harley again.1989, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5, Archie Comics:
Yeah! Not eating is so 90’s!2003 April 16, Michael Stokes, “I, Dude”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Clover (Andrea Taylor), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:
In the same manner or to the same extent as aforementioned; likewise, also.
As above, so below.
Just as you have the right to your free speech, so I have the right to mine. Many people say she's the world's greatest athlete, but I don't think so. "I can count backwards from one hundred." "So can I."
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He wants to eat now. So does she.
"Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow," quoth Robin, "thou seemest happy this merry morn." ¶ "Ay, that am I," quoth the jolly Butcher, "and why should I not be so? Am I not hale in wind and limb? Have I not the bonniest lass in all Nottinghamshire? And lastly, am I not to be married to her on Thursday next in sweet Locksley Town?"1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:
The work thus done has probably been of the greatest value to the human race; but, just as in other cases it has sometimes happened that the effort to do a certain work has resulted in the end in an unbalanced exaggeration so here.1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 192:
It was a goal that meant West Ham won on their first appearance at Wembley in 31 years, in doing so becoming the first team since Leicester in 1996 to bounce straight back to the Premier League through the play-offs.2012 May 19, Paul Fletcher, “Blackpool 1-2 West Ham”, in BBC Sport:
From Middle English so, swo, zuo, swa, swe, from Old English swā, swǣ, swē (“so, as, the same, such, that”), from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from Proto-Germanic *swa, *swē (“so”), from Proto-Indo-European *swē, *swō (reflexive pronomial stem). Cognate with Scots sae (“so”), Saterland Frisian so (“so”), West Frisian sa (“so”), Dutch zo (“so”), German Low German so (“so”), German so (“so”), Danish så (“so”), Norwegian Nynorsk so (“so”), Swedish så (“so, such that”), Faroese so (“so”), Icelandic svo (“so”), Old Latin suad (“so”), Albanian sa (“how much, so, as”), Ancient Greek ὡς (hōs, “as”), Urdu سو (sō, “hence”).
1
Agreeing with actual facts or reality; true.
That is so.
You are responsible for this, is that not so?
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“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
The details of her own life crowded out everything else; almost every time I saw Min, she had something new to tell me. It sometimes felt as if the laws of the physical world did not apply to her, that she had only to think of something — a job switch, a breakup — to make it so. If I didn’t see her for a while, she might forget to tell me that she had quit a factory or gotten a raise, because in her mind she had already moved on.2008, Leslie T. Chang, Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, New York: Spiegel & Grau, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 73:
2
In that state or manner; with that attribute. A proadjective that replaces the aforementioned adjective phrase.
"You're definitely not right about that." "I am so!" (→I am right about that).
If this separation was painful to all parties, it was most so to Martha.1823, Andrew Reed, Martha:
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But if I had been more fit to be married, I might have made you more so too.1872, Charles Dickens, “The Personal History of David Copperfield”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
It must be understood that while the nelumbiums are hardy, they are so only as long as the tubers are out of the reach of frost.1947, Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture:
From Middle English so, swo, zuo, swa, swe, from Old English swā, swǣ, swē (“so, as, the same, such, that”), from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from Proto-Germanic *swa, *swē (“so”), from Proto-Indo-European *swē, *swō (reflexive pronomial stem). Cognate with Scots sae (“so”), Saterland Frisian so (“so”), West Frisian sa (“so”), Dutch zo (“so”), German Low German so (“so”), German so (“so”), Danish så (“so”), Norwegian Nynorsk so (“so”), Swedish så (“so, such that”), Faroese so (“so”), Icelandic svo (“so”), Old Latin suad (“so”), Albanian sa (“how much, so, as”), Ancient Greek ὡς (hōs, “as”), Urdu سو (sō, “hence”).
1
Used after a pause for thought to introduce a new topic, question or story, or a new thought or question in continuation of an existing topic.
So, let's go home.
So, what'll you have?
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So, there was this squirrel stuck in the chimney...
So, everyone wants to know – did you win the contest or not?
So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
2
Used as a question to ask for further explanation of something said, often rhetorically or in a dismissive or impolite manner.
"You park your car in front of my house every morning." — "So?"
3
Used as a meaningless filler word to begin a response to a question.
What are you doing? / So I'm just fixing this shelf.
What time does the train leave? / So it leaves at 10 o'clock.
4
Archaic Be as you are; stand still; used especially to cows; also used by sailors.
so
pron
Etymology
From Middle English so, swo, zuo, swa, swe, from Old English swā, swǣ, swē (“so, as, the same, such, that”), from Proto-West Germanic *swā, from Proto-Germanic *swa, *swē (“so”), from Proto-Indo-European *swē, *swō (reflexive pronomial stem). Cognate with Scots sae (“so”), Saterland Frisian so (“so”), West Frisian sa (“so”), Dutch zo (“so”), German Low German so (“so”), German so (“so”), Danish så (“so”), Norwegian Nynorsk so (“so”), Swedish så (“so, such that”), Faroese so (“so”), Icelandic svo (“so”), Old Latin suad (“so”), Albanian sa (“how much, so, as”), Ancient Greek ὡς (hōs, “as”), Urdu سو (sō, “hence”).
1
Demonstrative That which was previously mentioned; that.
I'll become a loyal friend and remain so.
If that's what you really mean, then just say so.
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You may need to refer to litigation as a procedure, and when you have done so, you can say a matter is "in litigation".
"When I went to Venice, I discovered that my dream had become—incredibly but quite simply—my address." So wrote Marcel Proust, capturing the essence of a city where water, light, art, and memory converge.2026 May 23, Alessandra Pellegrino, “Palazzo Pant”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 26:
So
noun
1
A Mon-Khmer-speaking people of Laos and Thailand.
so
noun
Etymology Shortened from sol, to make it an open syllable for uniformity with the rest of the scale, from Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (“fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (“wash away”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.
1
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A syllable used in solfège to represent the fifth note of a major scale.
2
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Sometimes syllable for both the second and the fifth.
so
noun
Etymology Borrowed from Japanese 蘇 (so).
1
A type of dairy product, made especially in Japan between the seventh and tenth centuries, by reducing milk by boiling it.