so-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "so"

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish so-, su- (“good”), from Proto-Celtic *su-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁su-. Cognate with Welsh hy- (“very, easy to”), Ancient Greek εὖ (eû), Sanskrit सु- (su-). Doublet of eo-.

Prefix

so-

1. very (positive or neutral)

   Synonyms: dea-, deas, maith

2. X-able, easy to X

   Synonym: furasta

Usage notes

• This affix in Irish is added to adjectives denoting attributes of ability as well as positive attributes. It lenites the word to which it attaches.
• When it means very, so- acts like an adverb:

  ‎so- + ‎blasta (“tasty”) → ‎so-bhlasta (“very tasty”)

• When it means -able, so- acts like a plain affix:

  ‎so- + ‎briste (“broken”) → ‎sobhriste (“breakable”)

  ‎so- + ‎déanta (“done”) → ‎sodhéanta (“doable”)

Antonyms

• do-
• ró-

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with so-

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “so-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Italian

Etymology

From Latin sub- (“under”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /so/
• Hyphenation: so-

Prefix

so-

1. under, beneath

   ‎so- + ‎gola (“throat”) → ‎soggolare (“to fit with a wimple”)

   ‎so- + ‎reggere (“to bear; to hold”) → ‎sorreggere (“to support, sustain”)

2. used in the formation of verbs where the root action is attenuated

   ‎so- + ‎friggere (“to fry”) → ‎soffriggere (“to fry slowly with moderate heat”)

   ‎so- + ‎bollire (“to boil”) → ‎sobbollire (“to simmer”)

   ‎so- + ‎fermare (“to stop”) → ‎soffermare (“to linger”)

Usage notes

• It always causes gemination of an initial single consonant.

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with so-

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish so-, su-.

Prefix

so-

1. X-able, easily Xed

Derived terms

Manx terms prefixed with so-

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• su-

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *su-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁su-. Cognate with Welsh hy- (“very, easy to”), Ancient Greek εὖ (eû), Sanskrit सु- (su-).

Prefix

so- (triggers lenition of a following term)

1. good, excellent

   ‎so- + ‎cor (“contract”) → ‎sochar (“good contract”)

   ‎so- + ‎cenél (“kindred”) → ‎sochenéuil (“well-born”)

2. X-able, easy to X

   ‎so- + ‎atrab (“inhabiting”) → ‎suaitribthide (“habitable”)

   ‎so- + ‎cosc (“correction”) → ‎sochoisc (“docile”)

3. very

   ‎so- + ‎cairdech (“friendly”) → ‎sochairdech (“very friendly”)

Antonyms

• do-

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with so-

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 so, su”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 365, page 231; reprinted 2017

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin sub-. Doublet of sub-.

Prefix

so-

1. sub- (under, beneath)

   Synonym: sub-

Derived terms

Portuguese terms prefixed with so-

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sǫ-.

Prefix

so-

1. con-, co- (with, together, jointly)

Derived terms

Slovene terms prefixed with so-

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /so/ [so]
• Syllabification: so-

Prefix

so-

1. sub-

   Synonym: sub-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with so-

Further reading

• “so-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10