olé

== English == === Etymology === From the Spanish olé. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /oʊˈleɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ Homophone: olay === Interjection === olé An expression of excitement. Hooray! ==== Translations ==== === Anagrams === Leo, Loe, leo, loe, OEL, EOL, LEO, LoE, elo, Elo == Portuguese == === Etymology === Borrowed from Spanish olé. === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -ɛ Hyphenation: o‧lé === Interjection === olé olé, an expression of encouragement and approval (rare) hello Synonym: olá ==== Usage notes ==== The interjection was commonly shouted in bullfighting every time the matador managed to avoid being hit by the bull. The sense was later brought to sports, mainly soccer, and is shouted when a player manages to dribble their opponent. === Noun === olé m (plural olés) (Brazil, colloquial, chiefly soccer) series of dribbles done by a team (Brazil, colloquial) trick; mislead ==== Derived terms ==== dar um olé === Further reading === “olé”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “olé”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026 “olé”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026 “olé”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN “olé”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Alternative forms === ole === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /oˈle/ [oˈle] Rhymes: -e Syllabification: o‧lé === Etymology 1 === Unknown. Often supposed to be from Arabic الله (allāh, “God!”), used e.g. to express surprise, excitement, etc., and/or from related وَاللهِ (wa-llāhi, “by God!”), used as an oath or strong agreement. The Spanish Arabist Federico Corriente, however, counted the terms among the “falsos arabismos” (false Arabisms) in his work Diccionario de Arabismos y Voces Afines en Iberorromance. The counterargument is mainly phonetic, Arabic الله (allāh) being generally pronounced with a dark L and back vowels ([ɑlˤˈlˤɑːh]), which makes the Spanish /e/ problematic. Note, however, that the pronunciation becomes clear and front when /i/ precedes (e.g. لله [lɪlˈlæːh]). Perhaps this front articulation was generalized in (parts of) Andalusian Arabic. ==== Interjection ==== olé an expression of encouragement and approval ===== Usage notes ===== The interjection was commonly shouted in bullfighting every time the matador managed to avoid being hit by the bull. The sense was later brought to sports, mainly soccer, and is shouted when a player manages to dribble their opponent. ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Verb ==== olé second-person singular voseo imperative of oler === References === === Further reading === “olé”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025