ammo

See also: ämmö, -ammo, and ammo-

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-

Proto-Indo-European *móyni

Latin moene

Proto-Indo-European *-yétider.

Latin -iō

Latin mūniō

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *-Hō

Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō

Proto-Italic *-tiō

Latin -tiō

Latin mūnitiōnemlbor.

Middle French munition

Middle French amunitionbor.

English ammunitionclip.

English ammo

Clipping of ammunition.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.məʊ/, /ˈa.məʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.moʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æməʊ

Noun

ammo (usually uncountable, plural ammos)

1. Ammunition.
   • 1917, Arthur Guy Empey, “Lewis Gun”, in Over the Top, G. P. Putnam's, page 297:

     Under fire when this magazine is emptied you shout for “ammo” but perhaps No. 2, the ammo carrier, is lying in the rear with a bullet through his napper. Then it's “napoo-fini” (Tommy's French) for Mr. Lewis.

   • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 110:

     We walked onto the racecourse like a pair of Wyatt Earps, cashed up and plenty of ammo and we walked off like a pair of Elmer Fudds, out of `buwwets'.

   • 2011, Mark Brannon, Tom Hanrahan, Shooting Sporting Clays, page 39:

     As with handguns and rifles, some ammos are more accurate than others.

2. (slang, games, gambling, uncommon) Chips or money, usually at a casino.

Derived terms

• ammo belt
• ammo humper
• ammosexual

Verb

ammo (third-person singular simple present ammos, present participle ammoing, simple past and past participle ammoed)

1. (transitive, informal) To load up on ammunition.

   Synonym: ammo up

   • 2001, H. Beam Piper, Uller Uprising:

     "Harry and Hassan are getting the car re-ammoed; they dropped me off here.

Further reading

• “ammo n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.

Anagrams

• Mamo, MoMA, OMAM, mamo

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ammo, from Proto-Uralic *aŋma-w. Cognate to Ingrian ammillaa, Votic ammulla, Estonian ammuli, Estonian ammu, Livonian amtlõ (“to yawn”), Skolt Sami ämmsõddâd (“to yawn”), Western Mari [script needed] (omeštaš, “to talk or move while in sleep or to talk unclearly”), Southern Selkup [script needed] (āmmu-, “yawnable, something that makes one to yawn”) (Ket), Kamassian [script needed] (a’moi-, “yawnable, something that makes one to yawn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑmːo/, [ˈɑ̝mːo̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑmːo
• Syllabification^(key): am‧mo
• Hyphenation^(key): am‧mo

Noun

ammo (dialectal, rare)

1. something that widens on a mouth section, like a mouth or a cavity

Declension

Inflection of ammo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		ammo	ammot
genitive		ammon	ammojen
partitive		ammoa	ammoja
illative		ammoon	ammoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		ammo	ammot
accusative	nom.	ammo	ammot
	gen.	ammon
genitive		ammon	ammojen
partitive		ammoa	ammoja
inessive		ammossa	ammoissa
elative		ammosta	ammoista
illative		ammoon	ammoihin
adessive		ammolla	ammoilla
ablative		ammolta	ammoilta
allative		ammolle	ammoille
essive		ammona	ammoina
translative		ammoksi	ammoiksi
abessive		ammotta	ammoitta
instructive		—	ammoin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of ammo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative ammoni ammoni accusative nom. ammoni ammoni gen. ammoni genitive ammoni ammojeni partitive ammoani ammojani inessive ammossani ammoissani elative ammostani ammoistani illative ammooni ammoihini adessive ammollani ammoillani ablative ammoltani ammoiltani allative ammolleni ammoilleni essive ammonani ammoinani translative ammokseni ammoikseni abessive ammottani ammoittani instructive — — comitative — ammoineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative ammosi ammosi accusative nom. ammosi ammosi gen. ammosi genitive ammosi ammojesi partitive ammoasi ammojasi inessive ammossasi ammoissasi elative ammostasi ammoistasi illative ammoosi ammoihisi adessive ammollasi ammoillasi ablative ammoltasi ammoiltasi allative ammollesi ammoillesi essive ammonasi ammoinasi translative ammoksesi ammoiksesi abessive ammottasi ammoittasi instructive — — comitative — ammoinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative ammomme ammomme accusative nom. ammomme ammomme gen. ammomme genitive ammomme ammojemme partitive ammoamme ammojamme inessive ammossamme ammoissamme elative ammostamme ammoistamme illative ammoomme ammoihimme adessive ammollamme ammoillamme ablative ammoltamme ammoiltamme allative ammollemme ammoillemme essive ammonamme ammoinamme translative ammoksemme ammoiksemme abessive ammottamme ammoittamme instructive — — comitative — ammoinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative ammonne ammonne accusative nom. ammonne ammonne gen. ammonne genitive ammonne ammojenne partitive ammoanne ammojanne inessive ammossanne ammoissanne elative ammostanne ammoistanne illative ammoonne ammoihinne adessive ammollanne ammoillanne ablative ammoltanne ammoiltanne allative ammollenne ammoillenne essive ammonanne ammoinanne translative ammoksenne ammoiksenne abessive ammottanne ammoittanne instructive — — comitative — ammoinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative ammonsa ammonsa accusative nom. ammonsa ammonsa gen. ammonsa genitive ammonsa ammojensa partitive ammoaan ammoansa ammojaan ammojansa inessive ammossaan ammossansa ammoissaan ammoissansa elative ammostaan ammostansa ammoistaan ammoistansa illative ammoonsa ammoihinsa adessive ammollaan ammollansa ammoillaan ammoillansa ablative ammoltaan ammoltansa ammoiltaan ammoiltansa allative ammolleen ammollensa ammoilleen ammoillensa essive ammonaan ammonansa ammoinaan ammoinansa translative ammokseen ammoksensa ammoikseen ammoiksensa abessive ammottaan ammottansa ammoittaan ammoittansa instructive — — comitative — ammoineen ammoinensa

Derived terms

• ammolla
• ammolleen
• ammossa
• ammottaa

References

• Santeri Junttila, Petri Kallio, Sampsa Holopainen, Juha Kuokkala, Juho Pystynen, editors (2020–), “ammo”, in Suomen vanhimman sanaston etymologinen verkkosanakirja‎^[1] (in Finnish), retrieved 1 January 2024
• “ammuli”, in [ETY] Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat [Estonian Etymological Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2012
• Erkki Itkonen, Ulla-Maija Kulonen, editors (1992–2000), Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The Origin of Finnish Words]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources; this source is labeled "SSA 1992–2000"), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN
• Eino Koponen, Klaas Ruppel, Kirsti Aapala, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[3], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Uzbek

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic أَمَّا (ʔammā, “as for”).

Conjunction

ammo

1. but