¡Ole! or ¡olé! is a Spanish interjection used to cheer on or praise a performance, especially associated with the audience of bullfighting and flamenco dance, but common in many other contexts in Spain. In football, it can be used as a form of mockery or encouragement depending on how it is used, and it is also frequently used as a football chant (outside Spain) as in "Olé, Olé, Olé". Etymology The origin of the word is uncertain. A popular idea is that the word comes from "Allāh", the Arabic word for God, perhaps as "wa Ilâh" (by God), or "yāllāh" (O God). It was believed that the presence and power of God could be glimpsed through an exceptional performance, for example in a flamenco dance. It has also been argued that when Flamenco dancers chant the word in cante jondo, they were reciting the beginning of the Shahada ("la illaha illa Allah") and that they were performing a Muwashshah. The linguist Joan Coromines in his Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico links "olé" to the Spanish word for "hello" hola and hala. Hola has also been proposed to have come from Arabic. However, the suggested derivations from Arabic of both olé and hola are disputed and they are described by the Spanish Arabist Federico Corriente as "falsos arabismos" (false Arabisms) in his work Diccionario de arabismos y voces afines en iberorromance. The Spanish dictionary Diccionario de la lengua española that stated the "wa Ilâh" origin of "olé" in its earlier editions has removed the claim since 2001. The word is also proposed to have originated from Greek ὀλολυγή (ololigi) to describe a "ritual cry", which became Hispanicized into "olé" meaning "bravo!" and used to express an appreciation of an outstanding performance in Spanish. However, the word is attested to only once in Ancient Greek, derived From verb meaning disastrous, with negative connotations and not used repeatedly as is the current practice, nor are there any records of it ever being used a in a similar fashion to express admiration or satisfaction in Greek the way it is currently used in Spanish. The word is paroxytone, though sporadically it can be oxytone (then written olé). The word is believed to have deep root in Andalusia and from there it spread to Madrid, and the acute accent in "olé" may be more proper in Andalusian and flamenco. Use in flamenco In flamenco