æ

See also: Æ, æ-, -æ, ӕ, ǽ, ǣ, ᴂ, ᵆ, Appendix:Variations of "a", Appendix:Variations of "e", and Appendix:Variations of "ae"

æ U+00E6, æ LATIN SMALL LETTER AE ← å [U+00E5] Latin-1 Supplement ç → [U+00E7]

𐞃 U+10783, 𐞃 MODIFIER LETTER SMALL AE ← 𐞂 [U+10782] Latin Extended-F 𐞄 → [U+10784]

Translingual

Pronunciation

• IPA

  (file)

Symbol

æ

1. (IPA) a near-open front unrounded vowel.

   (superscript ⟨𐞃⟩) [æ]-coloring or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [æ].

See also

• SAMPA equivalent: {
• æ-tensing
• ᴂ

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æʃ/
• Rhymes: -æʃ

Symbol

æ (lower case, upper case Æ, plural æs or æ's)

1. (chiefly dated or linguistics) A ligature of vowels a and e.

   Synonym: ash

Usage notes

• Mostly used for words of either Ancient Greek or Latin origin, though also used when referencing Old English texts or using recently derived Old English loanwords.
• Uncommon in modern times except in linguistic use.
• Often absent in American English (reduced to e) whenever it has the sound /ɛ/ or /iː/, but sometimes retained (in this form, or as ae) when it has a different sound, as in formulæ/formulae.

See also

• ash
• œ
• Appendix:English pronunciation

Anagrams

• EA, Ea, ea, ea.

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/, [ɛːˀ]

Letter

æ (upper case Æ)

1. Antepenultimate letter of the Danish alphabet.

Inflection

Declension of æ

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	æ	æ'et	æ'er	æ'erne
genitive	æ's	æ'ets	æ'ers	æ'ernes

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bogstav; A a (Á á), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y (Ý ý), Z z, Æ æ (Ǽ ǽ), Ø ø (Ǿ ǿ), Å å (Ǻ ǻ)

References

• “æ” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 2

From Old Danish thæn (Modern Danish den).

Article

æ

1. (dialectal) the (definite article)

Further reading

• “æ” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛa/
• Homophones: a, A
• Rhymes: -ɛaː

Letter

æ (upper case Æ)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstavur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, Y y, Ý ý, Æ æ, Ø ø

French

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ø dɑ̃ l‿a/

Letter

æ (lower case, upper case Æ)

1. Ligature of the letters a and e

   Synonym: e dans l'a

German

Symbol

æ (lower case, upper case Æ)

1. Obsolete form of ä (used, alongside other graphemes, until ca. 1700, since then very rarely).

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ai̯/

Letter

æ (upper case Æ)

1. The thirty-first letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

Interjection

æ

1. ah!, oh!

   Æ, já nú man ég! ― Ah, now I remember!

2. indicating annoyance

   Æ, hvað heitir lagið aftur? ― Remind me again, what that song's called?

   Æææ, ég er kominn með bólu. ― Darn it, I have a zit.

3. indicating compassion; alas

   Æ, það er leitt að heyra. ― That's sad to hear.

   Æ, því miður. ― Unfortunately not.

4. indicating affection; aww!

   Æææ, en sætt! ― Aww, how cute!

5. indicating pain; ouch!, ow!

   Æ! Hann beit mig! ― Ouch! He bit me!

   Synonyms: ái, áts, á

Usage notes

Can be arbitrarily lengthened and written as ææ, æææ and so on.

Adverb

æ

1. always, forever

Synonyms

• ætíð
• um aldur og ævi

Derived terms

• sí og æ (“always, for ever and ever”)

Jutish

Etymology

From Old Norse ek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ/

Pronoun

æ

1. (Fjolde) I (first-person singular pronoun)

References

• “æ” in Anders Bjerrum and Marie Bjerrum (1974), Ordbog over Fjoldemålet, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Ligurian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/

Verb

æ

1. second-person singular present indicative of avéi: you have (singular)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• e, ea, ee, eo

Etymology

From Old English ēa, ǣ.

Noun

æ

1. a waterway; a stream or river.

Descendants

• English: ea, Eau, eau, yeo

Norwegian

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /æː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /æː/, /æ/

• Audio

  (file)

Letter

æ (upper case Æ)

1. Antepenultimate letter of the Norwegian alphabet, coming after Z and before Ø.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Variant of eg, from Old Norse ek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æː/

Pronoun

æ (accusative mæ)

1. (dialectal, Trøndelag, Northern Norway, Southern Norway) I (first-person singular personal pronoun)

See also

• fugl (Nynorsk)

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æː/

Etymology 1

Letter

ǣ (upper case Æ)

1. letter of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet, listed in 24th and final position by Byrhtferð (1011); Called æsc (“ash tree”) after the Anglo-Saxon ᚫ rune

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *aiwi. Cognate with Old Frisian and Old High German ēwa ~ ē, Old Saxon ēo.

Alternative forms

• ǣw, eaw, eau, eu, æwe, a

Noun

ǣ f

1. law
2. marriage
3. rite

Declension

Declension of æ

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	ǣ	ǣ
accusative	ǣ	ǣ
genitive	ǣ	ǣwa
dative	ǣ	ǣwum

Derived terms

• ǣbōc
• ǣwbryċe
• ǣwlīċ
• ǣwnian

Descendants

• Middle English: æw, eaw, e, æ, eu

Etymology 3

Noun

ǣ f

1. Alternative form of ēa: river, running water

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *aiwi (“forever”), *aiwaz. Cognate with Old English ā, āwa, ǣ, Old Saxon eo, io, ia, Old High German eo, io.

Alternative forms

• ei, ey

Adverb

æ (not comparable)

1. ever, eternally, at any time
   • Vǫluspá, verse 19, lines 7-8, in 1867, S. Bugge, Norrœn fornkvæði: Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Christiania, page 4:

     […] stendr æ yfir grœnn / Urðar brunni

     […] stands ever green, over / the well of Urd

Descendants

• Icelandic: æ
• Old Swedish: ē, ǣ
  • Swedish: ä, e, e-
• → Middle English: aye, ai, agg
  • English: aye

Etymology 2

Verb

æ

1. inflection of æja:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Old Swedish

Letter

æ

1. a letter of the Old Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.