a-
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Usage notes
Different Germanic senses of a- became confused – vaguely “intensive” – and are no longer productive. The Greek sense of “not” (e.g., amoral) remains productive.
- “[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose.”, OED.
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old English ā-, originally ar-. Cognate with German er-.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Prefix
a-
- (no longer productive) forming verbs with the sense away, from, out, e.g. arise, await
[edit] Etymology 2
A proclitic form of preposition a
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Prefix
a-
- (no longer productive) in, on: apace
[edit] Etymology 3
From Middle English variant form of y-, from Old English ġe-.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Prefix
a-
- (no longer productive) representing the Anglo-Saxon intensifying prefix, sometimes with little change in meaning, e.g. aware
- The Twelve Days of Christmas:
- On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me.
- Six geese a-laying
- The Twelve Days of Christmas:
[edit] Etymology 4
From Anglo-Norman a-, from Old French e-, from Latin ex-.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Prefix
a-
- (no longer productive) forming words with the sense of wholly, out, e.g. abash
[edit] Etymology 5
From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Prefix
a-
- Forming words denoting absence or lack, e.g. abyss, amoral, usually with stems beginning with consonants.
- 1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, p. 7:
- When invited to believe in the Chimaera, the horse-centaurs, or the winged horse Pegasus, all of them straightforward Pelasgian cult-symbols, a philosopher felt bound to reject them as a-zoölogical improbabilities [...].
- 1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, p. 7:
[edit] Related terms
[edit] References
- “a-” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
[edit] Ainu
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /a/
[edit] Etymology
From older Ainu an-, of the same meaning.
[edit] Prefix
a-
- a passive prefix to verbs
[edit] Usage notes
- The Sakhalin dialect of Ainu still uses the old form an-.
- This is not always prefixed to the verb it governs; other words may intervene between them.
[edit] Croatian
[edit] Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).
[edit] Prefix
a-
- Prefix prepended to words to denote a negation, deprivation or absence of a property denoted by base word.
-
- a- + socijalan → asocijalan
- a- + simetrija → asimetrija
- a- + brahija → abrahija
-
[edit] French
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old French, from Latin ad-.
[edit] Prefix
a-
- A prefix forming words, especially verbs, that denote entering a state, making progress toward a goal, or the like.
[edit] Etymology 2
From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel); generalized from the many Latin borrowings using this prefix.
[edit] Prefix
a-
[edit] References
- "a-" in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
[edit] Italian
[edit] Prefix
a-
- a- (indicating lack or loss)
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Latin
[edit] Alternative forms
[edit] Etymology
From ab (“‘away from’”)
[edit] Prefix
a-
- away from
[edit] Usage notes
- used before consonants, but not usually not 'c' or 't'.
[edit] Old English
[edit] Etymology
From an earlier form ar-, from Germanic. Cognate with Old High German ar-, ir- (German er-).
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɑː/
[edit] Prefix
ā-
- forming words with the sense from, away, off, out, e.g. āniman
