Okay

Part of speech: adjective, adverb, interjection

Pronunciation: /ˌəʊˈkeɪ/

Definitions

1. An expression used to indicate agreement, acceptance, or that something is satisfactory ; a term signifying approval or permission ; a casual response meaning all is well or understood
2. A word signaling consent or confirmation that something is acceptable ; used to grant permission or acknowledge comprehension ; a phrase indicating that conditions or quality meet standards
3. A common utterance to show assent or that all conditions are met ; a sign of encouragement or positive affirmation ; a nod to recognizing adequacy or readiness

Etymology: "OK" is the famous one. Its most-cited origin story is that it began as a joke in 1839 Boston, where "oll korrect" (a deliberate misspelling of "all correct") was a fashionable abbreviation in newspapers, and "OK" was its shortened form. That story is widely repeated and well documented in its general outline, and the abbreviation spread quickly through American speech. "Okay" is simply the spelled-out respelling of that abbreviation, so the word carries a joke about spelling inside it: a playful misspelling of a misspelling, now standard in dictionaries. The spelling "okay" itself is a later development. Once the abbreviation was written out in full, it took the form that now appears in English, and it began to be used as a plain expression of agreement, the sense it carries today. Its earliest roots as a joke are a reminder that many of the most ordinary words in English began as jokes, slang, or deliberate mistakes.

Synonyms: fine, acceptable

Antonyms: unacceptable, poor