Where does “Woo” come from?

Woo is an English word of unknown ultimate origin, possibly connected to Mandarin 武 meaning "martial" or "military," though the etymological path remains uncertain.

Woo (English): To endeavor to gain someone's affection or support

Definitions

  1. To endeavor to gain someone's affection or support

Ancestry of “Woo”, step by step

Woo traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English wowen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwowen
2Old Englishwōgianto woo, court, marry
3Proto-Germanicwanhōa bend, turn, corner, angle, curve, incline
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwonk-crooked, bent
5Proto-Indo-Europeanwā-to move , to move so as to bend, turn; to bend,...

via Korean

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Koreanright side
2Middle Koreanabove, upper, upside, top
3Old Korean上只top; above

via Cantonese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Cantonese

Words derived from “Woo

Every word from Proto-Indo-European wā-