woo
verb/wuː/
Etymology From Middle English wowen, woȝen, from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots wow (“to woo”). Perhaps related to Old English wōg, wōh (“bending, crookedness”), in the specific sense of "bend or incline (some)one toward oneself". If so, then derived from Proto-Germanic *wanhō (“a bend, angle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wonk- (“crooked, bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *wā- (“to bend, twist, turn”); related to Old Norse vá (“corner, angle”).
1
To endeavor to gain someone's affection or support.
- They're trying to woo the customers back with this new mobile plan.
- Behind this carefully crafted strategy of wooing Trump is a desire from Gulf states to solidify and formalize their positions as the US’ indispensable security and economic partners, and extract as much benefit for themselves as they can.2025 May 11, Nadeen Ebrahim and Abbas Al Lawati, “Trump is visiting three of the world’s richest nations. Here’s what’s on their wish list”, in CNN, archived from the original on 12 Jul 2025:
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- He [Mark Zuckerberg] wanted to start an AI unit at Facebook, and to woo [Yann] LeCun [he] invited him over for dinner at his California home. A private chef prepared “chicken with some pretty good white wine”, LeCun recalls.2026 January 3, Melissa Heikkilä, “Lunch with the FT: Yann LeCun”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
2
Often of a man, to try to persuade (someone) to be in an amorous relationship with.
- Soo leue we syr Launcelot lyenge within that caue in grete payne / and euery day ther came a lady & brouȝt hym his mete & his drynke / & wowed hym to haue layne by hym / and euer the noble knyghte syre Launcelot sayd her nay. "So leave we Sir Launcelot lying within that cave in great pain; and every day there came a lady and brought him his meat and his drink, and wooed him, to have lain by him; and ever the noble knight, Sir Launcelot, said her nay."1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XIX, Chapter viii, leaf 393v:
- I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 17], lines [97–100]:
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- Each, like the Grecian artist, wooes / The image he himself has wrought.1718, Matthew Prior, epistle to Charles Montagu.:
- You woo me, you court me / You tease me, you please me / You school me, give me some things to think about / Ignite me, you invite me2000, Jill Scott, “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)”, in Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1:
3
To court solicitously; to invite with importunity; to solicit in love.
- Thee Chauntreſs oft the Woods among, / I woo to hear thy eeven Song;a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 39:
- I woo the wind / That still delays his coming.a. 1850, William Cullen Bryant, Summer Wind:
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- It will be a tragedy if further enterprises of this kind—for example, the one proposed between South Wales, Bristol and the South Coast via Salisbury—are now deferred until they, too, are realised too late to make an impact on a public that is too firmly wedded to the roads to be wooed back to the trains.1962 April, “Death from Natural Causes?”, in Modern Railways, page 218: