ergo

1 of 2

adverb

: for that reason : because of that : therefore, hence
… there is no sound, ergo, no speed of sound, in the vacuum of space.Stephan Wilkinson

ergo-

2 of 2

combining form

: ergot
ergosterol

Examples of ergo in a Sentence

Adverb There's no win-win situation for workers of the world, in the current era at least. American steelworkers here do better, ergo Russian and South Korean steelworkers overseas do worse. Alexander Cockburn, Nation, 3 Jan. 2000
He that comforts my wife is the cherisher of my flesh and blood; he that cherishes my flesh and blood loves my flesh and blood; he that loves my flesh and blood is my friend; ergo, he that kisses my wife is my friend. William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well, 1603
The products are poorly constructed; ergo, they break easily. according to that line of reasoning, the eyewitness couldn't identify the aircraft, ergo it must have been from another planet
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Somewhat cuter is the Oxo Good Grips Compost Bin ($20), a squarish plastic affair that bears the company’s ergo-mod aesthetic and is offered in white or black. Steven Sclaroff, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2019 Longtime Toronto pundit Damien Cox this past week suggested that the remedy might have to be a Marner trade, with the Leafs getting back young, promising (ergo: cheap) talent in the form of, say, a top-six forward and top-four defenseman. Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2019 Apparently, ergo gets into the food chain other than by mushroom consumption via fungi in the soil. Robert Beelman, CNN, 25 Apr. 2018 In the hubbub around this controversy, likely many doctors felt too embarrassed to grab the pharma handout—ergo my reborn popularity. Kent Sepkowitz, Slate Magazine, 17 Feb. 2017 The global television audience is (at least) sixteen hundred times as big; ergo, the halftime show is more music video than live concert. Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2017 Isaacson helps us right away with The Big One: Jobs might have felt abandoned because he was put up for adoption, ergo, sentenced to a life of searching for approval. John C Abell, WIRED, 27 Oct. 2011

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ergo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

Middle English, from Latin, from Old Latin, because of, from Old Latin *e rogo from the direction (of)

Combining form

French, from ergot

First Known Use

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ergo was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near ergo

Cite this Entry

“Ergo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ergo. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ergo

adverb
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