a-
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
See also Appendix:Variations of "a"
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation 1
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old English ā-, originally ar-. Cognate with German er-.
[edit] Prefix
a- no longer productive
[edit] Etymology 2
A proclitic form of a (preposition).
[edit] Prefix
a- no longer productive
[edit] Etymology 3
From Middle English variant form of y-, from Old English ġe-.
[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] Prefix
a- no longer productive
- forming words with the sense of wholly, out, e.g. abash
[edit] Pronunciation 2
[edit] Etymology 5
From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).
[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] 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] 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 German er-.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɑː/
[edit] Prefix
ā-
- forming words with the sense from, away, off, out, e.g. āniman
Categories: Entries with level or structure problems | Old English derivations | German derivations | English prefixes | No longer productive | Middle English derivations | Anglo-Norman derivations | Old French derivations | Latin derivations | Ancient Greek derivations | hr:Ancient Greek derivations | Croatian prefixes | Latin prefixes | Germanic derivations | Old English affixes | Words with alpha privatives

