# OK
## English
### Pronunciation

* (stressed)
** (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/
** (General American) IPA: /ˌoʊˈkeɪ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (unstressed)
** IPA: /əˈkeɪ/
* Rhymes: -eɪ

### Etymology 1

Origin disputed. Wikipedia lists many possible etymologies, of which the most widely accepted is that it is an abbreviation of oll/orl korrect, a comical spelling of all correct, which first appeared in print in The Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, as part of a fad for similar fanciful abbreviations in the United States during the late 1830s. The expression became popular through its use in the presidential campaign of Martin Van Buren in 1840, who was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and then slowly acquired other meanings.
The Choctaw word oke, okeh (“it is so”), common in Choctaw translations of the Bible, could also explain OK's variety of affirmative definitions. Additionally, okeh was the most common etymology of okay in dictionaries until the 1960s, and linguistically predates Boston's O.K.. However, this theory suffers from the fact that the Choctaw language was relatively obscure and generally spoken (sometimes in a pidgin form) mainly with African-American slaves.

#### Alternative forms

* O.K., o.k., ok, okay, O. K., o. k., okeh, okey, okie

#### Noun

OK (plural OKs or OK's)
* Endorsement; approval; acceptance; acquiescence.
    We can start as soon as we get the OK.

##### Synonyms

* (endorsement or approval): approval, endorsement, green light, go-ahead, nod, thumbs up

##### Antonyms

* NG

##### Translations
#### Verb

OK (third-person singular simple present OKs or OK's, present participle OKing or OK'ing, simple past and past participle OKed or OK'd)
* (transitive) To approve; to accept; to acquiesce to.
    I don't want to OK this amount of money.
* (transitive, computing) To confirm by activating a button marked OK.
** 2001, Mike Collins, Pro Tools: Practical Recording, Editing and Mixing for Music Production:Type a suitable name for your Marker and OK the dialogue box.
** 2008, Martin Evening, Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers:When you OK the crop, the image size will be adjusted to match the front image resolution.

##### Synonyms

* approve
* greenlight

##### Translations
#### Adjective

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)
* All right, acceptable, permitted.
    Is it OK if I spend the night?
* Satisfactory, reasonably good; not exceptional.
    The soup was OK, but the dessert was excellent.
** 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], part second, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:One of us must marry well. Meg didn't, Jo won't, Beth can't yet, so I shall, and make everything okay all round.
* Satisfied (with); willing to accept a state of affairs.
** 2012, Roni Jay, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Do For Your Children:If you leave the kids in the creche for one morning on your week's holiday, and they are OK with that, then it's fine.
* In good health or a good emotional state.
    He's not feeling well now, but he should be OK after some rest.
    Are you OK?
** 2022 October 25, L. J. Shrum, Elena Fumagalli, Tina M. Lowrey, “Coping with loneliness through consumption”, in Journal of Consumer Psychology, volume 33, number 2, →DOI, page 452:In France, the French postal service La Poste provides a subscription service in which postal workers visit elderly subscribers to make sure they are okay, do not need anything, and provide brief social interaction.

##### Synonyms

* (all right, permissible): allowed, all right, permissible
* (satisfactory): adequate, all right, not bad, satisfactory
* (in good health or a good emotional state): fine, well

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “all right, permissible”): forbidden
* (antonym(s) of “satisfactory”): NG, bad, inadequate, poor, unsatisfactory
* (antonym(s) of “in good health or a good emotional state”): ill, poorly, sick, under the weather, unwell

##### Translations
#### Adverb

OK (comparative more OK, superlative most OK)
* Satisfactorily, sufficiently well.
    The team did OK in the playoffs.

##### Synonyms

* (satisfactorily): adequately, satisfactorily

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “satisfactorily”): NG, badly, inadequately, poorly, unsatisfactorily

##### Translations
#### Interjection

OK
* Used to indicate acknowledgement or acceptance.
    Synonyms: okey-dokey, okeh, okey, k, 'kay, m'kay, A-OK, all right
    I promise to give it back. – OK.
    Let's meet again this afternoon. – OK.
    Shut up! – OK, OK.
    OK! I get it! Stop nagging me!
** 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
    Come by this afternoon. — Okay.
       Audio (US):(file)
* (computing) Used to dismiss a dialog box or confirm a prompt.
* Used to introduce a sentence in order to draw attention to the importance of what is being said.
    Synonyms: now, now then
    OK, I'm thinking of a number…
* Used in turn-taking, serving as a request to the speaker to grant the turn to the interrupter.
    You always do this to me! When we were at your mother’s, you said that… – OK, OK, …
* Used to sarcastically or sardonically indicate agreement with the previous statement.

##### Derived terms

* A-okay
* OK please

##### Translations
#### Derived terms

* A-OK
* Horn OK Please
* k
* 'kay
* kthxbye
* m'kay
* okay
* OK, boomer
* okey-dokey
* OK, zoomer
* you OK

#### Descendants

* → Afrikaans: oukei
* → Arabic: أُوكِي (ʔokey), أُوكَي (ʔukay)
* → Cantonese: OK (ou1 kei1), O (ou1)
* → Danish: okay, OK
* → Dutch: oké
* → Esperanto: okej
* → Estonian: okei
* → Finnish: okei
* → French: okay
* → German: okay
* → Hebrew: אוקי (okéy)
* → Hindi: ओके (oke)
* → Hungarian: oké
* → Indonesian: oke
* → Icelandic: ókei
* → Italian: ok
* → Japanese: OK (ōkē), オーケー (ōkē)
* → Korean: OK (okei), 오케이 (okei)
* → Macedonian: океј (okej)
* → Malay: okey
* → Mandarin: OK (ōukèi, ōukēi)
* → Polish: okej
* → Portuguese: OK
* → Russian: окей (okej)
* → Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic script: океј
    Latin script: okej
* → Spanish: okay, okey
* → Swedish: okej
* → Thai: โอเค (oo-kee)
* → Turkish: okey
* → Ukrainian: окей (okej)
* → West Frisian: okee
* → Yiddish: אָקיי (okey)

#### See also

* oll korrect
* Wikipedia article on "okay"
* Wikipedia article on the "OK" hand gesture
* Wikipedia article on "A-OK" and the hand gesture

#### References

* How 'OK' took over the world, Allan Metcalf, BBC News Magazine (2011 February 18)
* The ‘O’ Word, Roy Blount, Jr., The New York Times Sunday Book Review (2010 November 19)
* OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word, Allan Metcalf, Oxford University Press (2010)
* Jim Fay (2009 September 16) “The Choctaw Expression "Okeh" and the Americanism "Okay"”, in Illinoisprairie.info‎, archived from the original on 24 December 2010.
* Allen Read, the Expert of 'O.K.,' Dies at 96, Douglas Martin, The New York Times Obituaries (2002 October 18)
* What does "OK" stand for?, Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope (1985)
* “OK”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Etymology 2
#### Proper noun

OK
* United States postal abbreviation for Oklahoma, a state of the United States of America.

##### Alternative forms

* (Oklahoma): OK., Ok., Ok

##### Synonyms

* (Oklahoma): Oklahoma, Okla, Okla.

### Etymology 3

Possibly a shortening of Chinese 卡拉OK. (Can this etymology be sourced?)

#### Noun

OK (plural not attested)
* (Hong Kong) Karaoke.

##### References

* Patrick J. Cummings, Hans-Georg Wolf (2011) A Dictionary of Hong Kong English: Words from the Fragrant Harbor, Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, page 126

### Anagrams

* KO, Ko, ko

## Chinese
### Alternative forms

* (Mandarin, one of the ways to transliterate into Chinese characters) 歐克 / 欧克 (ōukè)
* ok, Ok

### Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): ōukèi, ōukēi
    (Zhuyin): ㄡ ㄎㄟˋ, ㄡ ㄎㄟ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): ou$^1$ kei$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: OK
*** Zhuyin: ㄡ ㄎㄟˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: oukèi
*** Wade–Giles: ou$^1$-kʻei$^4$
*** Yale: ōu-kèi
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: oukey
*** Palladius: оукэй (oukɛj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀoʊ̯⁵⁵ kʰeɪ̯⁵¹/
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: OK
*** Zhuyin: ㄡ ㄎㄟ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: oukei
*** Wade–Giles: ou$^1$-kʻei$^1$
*** Yale: ōu-kēi
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: oukei
*** Palladius: оукэй (oukɛj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀoʊ̯⁵⁵ kʰeɪ̯⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: ou$^1$ kei$^1$
*** Yale: ōu kēi
*** Cantonese Pinyin: ou$^1$ kei$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ou$^1$ kéi$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /ou̯⁵⁵ kʰei̯⁵⁵/

### Adjective

OK
* (colloquial, sometimes nonstandard) OK
    你OK嗎？／你OK吗？ ― Nǐ ōukèi ma? ― Are you OK?
    你O唔OK呀？ [Cantonese] ― nei$^5$ ou$^1$ m$^4$ ou$^1$ kei$^1$ aa$^3$? [Jyutping] ― Are you OK?
    From: 夏渥客, 11樓 - Page 90
    “70% kāfēi OK ma?” [Pinyin]
    "Is 70% coffee alright?"

### Interjection

OK
* (colloquial, sometimes nonstandard) OK
       Shàngtou shuō ōukèi jiù ōukèi le. [Pinyin]
       If higher authorities say "OK", it means "OK".

#### Synonyms

* 好 (hǎo), 好的 (hǎo de), 好吧 (hǎo ba)
* 行 (xíng)

### Adverb

OK
* (Hong Kong Cantonese) moderately; fairly
       ni$^1$ fo$^1$ dou$^1$ ou$^1$ kei$^1$ ji$^6$ gaa$^3$. [Jyutping]
       This course is fairly easy.

### Verb

OK
* (Hong Kong Cantonese) to OK; to approve; to accept
** 2020, 斗零, 《拍廣吿其實唔難》, Hong Kong: 非凡出版, →ISBN, page 219:
       dai$^6$ jat$^1$, hoeng$^1$ gong$^2$ gwong$^2$ gou$^3$ ge$^3$ zai$^3$ zok$^3$ si$^4$ gaan$^3$ dyun$^2$, jau$^4$ kei$^4$ hai$^6$ hau$^6$ zai$^3$ si$^4$ gaan$^3$, gei$^1$ bun$^2$ soeng$^6$ jau$^4$ kyut$^3$ ding$^6$ paak$^3$ gwong$^2$ gou$^3$ dou$^3$ gwong$^2$ gou$^3$ gin$^3$ gaai$^1$, ping$^4$ gwan$^1$ dou$^1$ hai$^6$ jat$^1$ go$^3$ jyut$^6$ zo$^2$ jau$^{6-2}$, ji$^4$ CG (din$^6$ nou$^5$ dung$^6$ waa$^{6-2}$) tung$^1$ soeng$^4$ hai$^6$ jiu$^3$ haak$^3$ wu$^6$ ou$^1$ kei$^1$ zo$^2$ go$^3$ co$^1$ zin$^2$ baan$^2$ bun$^2$ (rough cut) sin$^1$ wui$^5$ hoi$^1$ ci$^2$ zou$^6$, so$^2$ ji$^5$ zik$^1$ hai$^6$ dak$^1$ jat$^1$ go$^3$ sing$^1$ kei$^4$ zo$^2$ jau$^{6-2}$, gam$^2$ hai$^6$ jyun$^4$ cyun$^4$ m$^4$ gau$^3$ si$^4$ gaan$^3$. [Jyutping]
       First, the production time of advertisements in Hong Kong is short, especially for post-production, where basically, from deciding to shoot an ad to the ad hitting the streets, it is on average about one month. As for CG (computer graphics), usually we would only start the project after our client OKs the rough cut, so it's just about one week's time, which is definitely not enough time.

### See also

* 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi)
* OK繃／OK绷 (ōukēibèng)

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /oːˈkaː/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

OK f (plural OK's)
* Abbreviation of operatiekamer.

#### Descendants

* → Indonesian: OK

## Finnish
### Etymology

< English OK

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈokei̯/, [ˈo̞k̟e̞i̯]
* IPA: /ˈoːkoː/, [ˈo̞ːko̞ː]
* Rhymes: -okei

### Adjective

OK
* Alternative form of okei

### Interjection

OK
* Alternative form of okei
* (computing) OK (in buttons, etc.)
    Synonym: (uncommon) selvä

### Further reading

* “OK”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

## French
### Alternative forms

* o’ kay, okay, O. K.

### Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɔk/, /ɔ.ke/
* Audio:(file)
* Audio (Canada):(file)

### Interjection

OK
* OK (endorsement; approval)
    Synonyms: d’accord, entendu

## Indonesian
### Etymology

From Dutch operatiekamer of operatie (“surgery”) +‎ kamer (“room”).

### Noun

OK (plural OK-OK)
* (healthcare, colloquial) operating theatre, operating room
    Synonym: kamar bedah

## Japanese
### Etymology

Borrowed from English OK.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) オーケー [óꜜòkèè] (Atamadaka –)
* (Tokyo) オーケー [òóꜜkèè] (Nakadaka – [2])
* (Tokyo) オーケー [òókéꜜè] (Nakadaka –)
* IPA: [o̞ːke̞ː]
* (Tokyo) オッケー [óꜜkkèè] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [o̞k̚ke̞ː]

### Noun

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē)
* agreement; approval; okay
** 2009 January 10, Tsugumi Ohba with Obata, Takeshi, “３ページ ペンとネーム [Page 3: Pens and Names]”, in BAKUMAN(バクマン)。 [BAKUMAN.], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 104:
    マンガの下(した)描(が)きみたいなもん　まずこれを描(か)いて編(へん)集(しゅう)者(しゃ)に見(み)せてＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)が出(で)たら初(はじ)めて原(げん)稿(こう)にできるＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)が出(で)るまでは何(なん)度(ど)でも描(か)き直(なお)し　もっともネームで見(み)せていいのはマンガ家(か)としての才(さい)能(のう)を認(みと)められた奴(やつ)な
       Manga no shitagaki mitai na mon Mazu kore o kaite henshūsha ni misete ōkē ga detara hajimete genkō ni dekiru ōkē ga deru made wa nando demo kakinaoshi Motto mo nēmu de misete ii no wa mangaka toshite no sainō o mitomerareta yatsu na
       It’s basically a rough sketch for manga. First you make one and show it to the editor, and only if it’s okayed can you go ahead with the draft. You may have to do it over a couple of times till it gets the okay. Though good mangaka can just pass with the name alone.
* no problem
    電(でん)子(し)レンジＯ(オー)Ｋ(ケー)のお皿(さら)
       denshi renji ōkē no o-sara
       microwave-safe plates

#### Antonyms

* N(エヌ)G(ジー) (enujī)

### Adjective

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē) -na (adnominal OK(オーケー)な (ōkē na), adverbial OK(オーケー)に (ōkē ni))
* OK; all right; fine

### Interjection

OK(オーケー) or OK(オッケー) • (ōkē or okkē)
* OK
** 2009 August 25, Kozue Amano, “第(だい)２(に)話(わ) 夢(ゆめ)ヶ丘(おか)高(こう)校(こう) [Chapter 2: Yumegaoka High School]”, in [あまんちゅ](ＡＭＡＮＣＨＵ)！ [AMANCHU!], volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Mag Garden, →ISBN, pages 33–38:
    その１(いち)「準(じゅん)備(び)」っ　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その２(に)「位(い)置(ち)」っ　お家(うち)の玄(げん)関(かん)　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その３(さん)「時(じ)間(かん)」っ　７(しち)時(じ)３０(さんじゅっ)分(ぷん)　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その４(よん)「空(くう)気(かん)」っ…………ピッ　Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼その５(ご)「行(こう)動(どう)」っ　レッツらゴ——！Ｏ(オッ)Ｋ(ケー)‼
       Sono ichi “Junbi”h okkē!! Sono ni “Ichi”h o-uchi no genkan okkē!! Sono san “Jikan”h shichiji sanjuppun okkē!! Sono yon “Kūkan”h... pih okkē!! Sono go “Kōdō”h rettsu ra gō—! Okkē!!
       Number 1 “Preparation”, check!! Number 2 “Location”: Entryway, check!! Number 3 “Time”: 7:30, check!! Number 4 “Air”... Hwee, check!! Number 5 “Action”: Let’s la gooo! Check!!

### References

* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* 1 2 3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

## Korean
### Etymology

From English OK.

### Pronunciation

* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [o̞kʰe̞i]
* Phonetic hangul: [오케이]

### Noun

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)
* (colloquial) good

#### Antonyms

* NG (NG)

### Interjection

OK • (okei) (hangeul 오케이)
* (colloquial) OK

## Norwegian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /uˈko/

### Adverb

OK
* OK, okay

### Adjective

OK
* OK, okay

### Interjection

OK
* OK, okay

## Portuguese
### Alternative forms

* ok, Ok

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English OK.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˌɔˈkej/ [ˌɔˈkeɪ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˌɔˈkɐj/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˌɔˈkɐj/
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /ˌɔˈkej/
** (Central Portugal) IPA: /ˌɔˈkej/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /ˌɔˈke/

### Interjection

OK
* OK (indicates acknowledgement or acceptance)
    Synonyms: tudo bem, certo, tá

### Noun

OK m (plural OKs)
* OK (an indication of acknowledgement or acceptance)

## Swedish
### Adverb

OK
* OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

### Adjective

OK
* OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

### Interjection

OK
* OK, okay
    Synonym: okej

### References

* OK in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* OK in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* OK in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* ko

## Vietnamese
### Alternative forms

* ô kê

### Etymology

From French OK.

### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [ʔo˧˧ ke˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [ʔow˧˧ kej˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [ʔow˧˧ kej˧˧]
* Phonetic spelling: ô kê

### Interjection

OK
* (informal) OK, okay (acknowledgement or acceptance)
* (computing) OK, okay (dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt)

#### Synonyms

* (acknowledgement or acceptance): ờ, ừ, ừm
* (dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt): được

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “dismissal of a dialog box or confirmation of a prompt”): hủy bỏ, hủy, thôi

### Anagrams

* ko