ask

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See also Ask, and aşk

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English asken, from Old English āxian, āscian (“to ask, inquire, seek for, demand, call, summon, examine, observe”), from Proto-Germanic *aiskōnan (“to ask, ask for”), from Proto-Indo-European *ayǝs- (“to look for”). Cognate with West Frisian easkje (“to require, postulate, demand”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to demand”), Danish æske (“to provoke”), Swedish äska (“to demand”), Russian искать (iskat', “to seek, look for”).

[edit] Verb

ask (third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked)

  1. look for an answer to a question by speaking.
  2. approach someone to do something.
[edit] Usage notes
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from ask
[edit] Translations
request an answer
make a request

[edit] Noun

ask (plural asks)

  1. An act or instance of asking.
    • 2005, Laura Fredricks, The ask:
      To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.
  2. Something asked or asked for; a request.
    • 2008, Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers:
      Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask” are more likely to respond to a bigger “ask” later on.

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle English aske, arske, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-Germanic *agiþahsijōn (“lizard”), from Proto-Germanic *agi- (“snake”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ogʷh- (“snake, lizard”)) + Proto-Germanic *þahsuz (“badger”) (from Proto-Indo-European *teḱs- (“to hew, trim”)). Cognate with Scots ask, awsk, esk (“an eft or newt”), Dutch hagedis (“lizard”), German Echse, Eidechse (“lizard”).

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Noun

ask (plural asks)

  1. (UK dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
  2. (UK dialectal) A lizard.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia da

[edit] Etymology

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃és-no-, *h₃és-i- (“ash”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

ask c. (singular definite asken, plural indefinite aske)

  1. common ash (tree, Fraxinus excelsior)

[edit] Inflection

    Inflection of ask
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative ask asken aske askene
genitive asks askens askes askenes

[edit] Norwegian

[edit] Etymology

From Old Norse askr.

[edit] Noun

ask m.

  1. The European ash (tree), Fraxinus excelsior

[edit] Inflection

    Inflection of ask
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål m ask asken asker askene
Nynorsk m ask asken askar askane

[edit] Swedish

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

ask c.

  1. the European ash (tree)
  2. a small box

[edit] Declension

Declension of ask
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative ask asken askar askarna
genitive asks askens askars askarnas

[edit] Scientific names

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