A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1513-1586, 1650-1651
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Ho, interj. Also: hoo. [ME. ho, hoo (14th c., e.m.E. also hoa. hoe), OF. ho.] A call to stop, desist; to cry ho, to call a halt (usually fig.) — 1513 Doug. iii. vi. 52.
Juno Forbyddis Helenus to speik it, and cryis, ho! 1535 Stewart 2328.
Auerice that no tyme will cry ho a1568 Bannatyne MS 267 a/34.
Quhen the riche for sufficience sayis ho a1586 Lindsay MS. 7.
The juge … as he seyis the battale ga at his awin plesance cry hoo a1651 Calderwood VII. 628.
As we use to say to a proverbe, ‘The king bids saile, but the wind cryes, Ho!’
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"Ho interj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/ho_interj>
