oscar
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Oscar¹
- /ˈɑs.kɚ/ US
- /ˈɒs.kə/ UK
Where it comes from
Exact origin uncertain. Resuscitated by James Mcpherson in The Works of Ossian (1765). Napoleon, an admirer of the Ossianic poems, chose it for his godson Oscar Bernadotte, who became a king of Sweden.
The modern given name is a conflation of two unrelated names: first, Middle Irish Oscar (the name of Fionn Mac Cumhaill's grandson in Irish mythology), from Middle Irish os (“deer”) + cara (“friend”); and second, Old English Ōscār, Ōsgār (personal name, literally “spear of the gods/spear of God”), from Old English ōs (“god”) and gār (“spear”) (see Oswald). Compare German Ansgar (personal name), Danish Asker, Asger (personal name), Norwegian Asgeir (personal name), Icelandic Ásgeir (personal name).
(Academy Award): Disputed. Said to have been named by actress Bette Davis after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, or by secretary Margaret Herrick after her cousin Oscar Pierce.
proper noun
- A male given name from Irish or Old English. My son, though alone, is brave. Oscar is like a beam of the sky: he turns around, and the people fall.
- A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], a rare anglicization of Mac Oscair (literally “son of Oscar”) (McCusker).
- An unincorporated community in Kentucky; named for Kentucky Representative Oscar Turner.
- An unincorporated community in Louisiana.
- An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for early settler Oscar Bradford.
- An unincorporated community in Oklahoma; named for local rancher Oscar W. Seay.
- An unincorporated community in Pennsylvania.
- An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
noun Oscars
- An Academy Award. Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four
- A statuette awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Oscar²
- /ˈɑs.kɚ/ US
- /ˈɒs.kə/ UK
Where it comes from
Shortened form of Oscar Asche.
noun
- cash; money.
oscar³
- /ˈɑs.kɚ/ US
- /ˈɒs.kə/ UK
noun oscars
-
A cichlid fish of species Astronotus ocellatus, native to South America, sometimes kept in aquariums.
Similar: marble cichlid, velvet cichlid
oscar⁴
noun
- Alternative letter-case form of Oscar from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet
OSCAR⁵
proper noun
- Initialism of Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: hugo, academy, fame, win, award, dog, oskar, ugo, accolade, prize, gong, statuette, trophy, decoration, citation, tribute
Translations
Every language
name male given name
| Español | Óscar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 오스카 oseuka |
| 日本語 | オスカー Osukā |
| 中文 | 奧斯卡 /奥斯卡 Àosīkǎ |
| हिन्दी | ऑस्कर ŏskar |
| Português | Óscar, Oscar |
| Français | Oscar |
| Deutsch | Oskar, Oscar |
| Italiano | Oscar |
| Ελληνικά | Όσκαρ Óskar |
| Русский | О́скар Óskar |
| العربية | أُوسْكَار ʔūskar |
| עברית | אוֹסְקָר ósqar |
noun Astronotus ocellatus
| Español | óscar, copaneca, carahuasú, acarahuazú |
|---|---|
| Français | oscar |
| Deutsch | Pfauenaugenbuntbarsch |
| Русский | глазча́тый астроно́тус glazčátyj astronótus |
Talk about this word "oscar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/oscar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. oscar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/oscar "oscar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/oscar.Cite this
@misc{oscar_2026,
title = {oscar},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/oscar},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
