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ace

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "ace"

Translingual

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Etymology

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Clipping of English Acehnese, Acehnese Acèh or Indonesian Aceh.

Symbol

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ace

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Acehnese.

See also

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English

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WOTD – 27 November 2013, 27 November 2014

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis (“unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage”), probably borrowed from Etruscan. Doublet of as. Likely related or deriving ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs, or otherwise taking from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”) in the sense of "singular".

Noun

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ace (plural aces)

  1. (card games) A playing card showing a single pip, typically the highest or lowest ranking card in a game.
    • 1948 January 1, “Deck of Cards” (track 20), in Famous Country Music Makers‎[1], performed by Tex Ritter:
      You see, Sir, when I look at the Ace it reminds me that there is but one God. The deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. And when I see the trey I think of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
  2. (dice games) A die face marked with a single dot, typically representing the number one.
  3. The ball marked with the number 1 in pool and related games.
    • 1961, The Hustler:
      Ace in the corner.
  4. (US, slang) A dollar bill.
    • 1990, David F. Friedman, Don DeNevi, A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-film King, page 136:
      […] maybe two or three twenties, a dozen tens, and twenty or thirty fins. The rest is all aces and silver.
    • 1996, Arthur M. Smith, Robert Thomas King, Let's Get Going, page 65:
      If they got too many aces (dollar bills) or fives or tens, they turned them in to the vault where they became part of the reserve.
  5. A very small quantity or degree; a particle; an atom; a jot.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum
    • c. 1658, Dr. Henry More, Government of the Tongue:
      He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, page 45:
      I'LL not wag an ace farther: The whole World ſhall not bribe me to it;
  7. (tennis, volleyball) A serve won without the opponent hitting the ball.
  8. (sports) A point won by a single stroke, as in handball, rackets, etc.
  9. (US, baseball) The best pitcher on the team.
  10. (US, baseball, dated, 19th century) A run.
  11. (US, golf, disc golf) A hole in one.
    • 2012, Arv Olson, Backspin: 120 Years of Golf in British Columbia, page 253:
      "Most of the aces weren't on holes I would have liked to have made them on," confessed Colk, who dropped his fifth dodo of 1935 on December 29, which was believed at the time to be a record for most aces in a year.
  12. (sometimes attributive) An expert at something; a maverick, genius; a person of supreme talent.
    Synonyms: expert, wiz; see also Thesaurus:skilled person
    an ace detective
    • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 4:
      ‘Weston, the ace of theatrical agents.’
    • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport‎[2]:
      Mexican ace Dos Santos smashed home the third five minutes later after good work from Defoe.
  13. A military aircraft pilot who is credited with shooting down many enemy aircraft, typically five or more.
  14. (US) A perfect score on a school exam.
  15. Any of various hesperiid butterflies.
  16. (physics, obsolete) A quark.
Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → Telugu: ఆసు (āsu)
  • → Japanese: エース (ēsu)
  • → Korean: 에이스 (eiseu)
  • → Russian: эйс (ejs)
  • → Swedish: ess
  • (?) → Finnish: ässä
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
References
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  • (defeat, outdo): Tony Thorne (2014), “ace”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London;  […]: Bloomsbury

Verb

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ace (third-person singular simple present aces, present participle acing, simple past and past participle aced)

  1. (transitive, US, informal) To pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly.
    Synonym: ace out
  2. (ambitransitive, US, informal) To defeat (others) in a contest; to outdo (others) in a competition.
    Synonym: ace out
  3. (ambitransitive, tennis) To win a point against (an opponent) by an ace.
  4. (golf) To make an ace (hole in one).
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Adjective

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ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)

  2. (UK, slang) Excellent.
    Synonyms: excellent, first-rate, outstanding
Translations
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See also
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Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace deuce, two three, trey four, cater five, cinque six seven
eight nine ten jack, knave queen king joker

Etymology 2

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Clipping of asexual.

Adjective

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ace (comparative more ace, superlative most ace)

  2. (slang) Asexual, not experiencing sexual attraction.
    Synonym: (slang) asexy
    • 2009 June 22, Anneli Rufus, “Asexuals at the Pride Parade”, in Psychology Today:
      "Some people who identify as ace fall under the GLBT umbrella while many others do not. Members of the queer movement have reached out to asexuals to include them in their community. The acronym for this has now become GLBTQA (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and asexual)."
    • 2010, Amy Ebersole, "Asexuality, not to be confused with celibacy", The Daily Aztec (San Diego State University), 25 January 2010:
      “I was 14 when I first realized I had no interest in sex,” Jed Strohm, a happily satisfied, romantic asexual from upstate New York, said. “I identified as ace (asexual) and the group leader said I was too attractive.”
    • 2013 March 28, Andrea Garcia-Vargas, “Ourselves, our sex, our choices”, in The Eye:
      “If you identify as ace [asexual] and you just don’t feel like having sex, then for me, sex-positive means, ‘That’s great! It’s fantastic you don’t want to have sex!’” says McGown.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ace.
Coordinate terms
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sexual orientation adjectivesedit
Derived terms
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Noun

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ace (plural aces)

  1. (slang) A person who is asexual.
    • 2012 July 23, Tasmin Prichard, “Freedom from Desire: Some Notes on Asexuality”, in Salient, Victoria University of Wellington, page 20:
      Asexuals are programmed differently, like anybody else on the LGBTQXYZ spectrum, but difference is cool! Difference is perhaps the best part of being queer. Own it, aces!
    • 2013 April, Leigh Miller, “(A)Sexual Healing”, in Jerk, volume XII, number V, Syracuse University, page 23:
      Negativity toward asexuality can make emerging aces fear that something is wrong with them.
    • 2014 February 4, Emma Ianni, “New Group to Bring Awareness Of C. U. Asexual Community”, in The Cornell Daily Sun, volume 130, number 81, Cornell University, page 1:
      G. F. said she came up with the idea of creating an asexual group last semester, when she was struggling with the way being an ace was affecting her personal life.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ace.

See also

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  • (aromantic): aro

See also

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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ace m (plural aces)

  1. (tennis) ace

Further reading

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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From either or both:

  • Hokkien 阿姊 (á-chí / á-ché, “eldest sister; elder sister”)
  • Hakka 阿姊 (a1 ji3 / â-che, “elder sister”)

Compare Tagalog ate, Kapampangan atsi.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ace (plural ace-ace)

  1. elder sister in Chinese communities
  2. a term of address to Chinese woman

Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English ace.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ace m (invariable)

  1. (tennis, volleyball) ace

References

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  1. ^ ace in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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acē

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of aceō

Old English

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Noun

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āce

  1. inflection of āc:
    1. accusative/genitive/dative singular
    2. nominative/accusative plural

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈej.si/ [ˈeɪ̯.si]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈej.se/ [ˈeɪ̯.se]

Etymology 1

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Unadapted borrowing from English ace, from Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as. Doublet of ás.

Noun

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ace m (plural aces)

  1. (tennis, volleyball) ace (serve won without the opponent hitting the ball)
    • 2025 June 16, Júlia Portes, Lucas Espogeiro, “Saque decisivo de Darlan chega a 130 km/h, e oposto mira recorde mundial; veja lance”, in ge‎[3], Rio de Janeiro: Globo, archived from the original on 16 June 2025:
      Além do resultado positivo, um ace decisivo de Darlan chamou atenção na reta final do segundo set.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

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Unadapted borrowing from English ace, from asexual.

Adjective

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ace m or f (plural aces)

  1. (LGBTQ, chiefly Internet slang) ace (asexual)
    Synonym: assexual
    • 2019 June 25, “Assexual e casada: como é viver numa relação em que só você é indiferente ao sexo”, Amor & Sexo, in anonymous translator, Glamour‎[4], Rio de Janeiro: Globo, translation of What It Means to Be on the Asexuality Spectrum by Emily McCarty, archived from the original on 26 September 2023:
      Pessoas assexuais podem também ter relações românticas e amores platônicos que não necessariamente estão ligadas a sexo. Elas podem ser "aces" (assexuadas) e “aro” (românticas), ou nenhum dos dois.
      [original: Aces can also have romantic relationships, a platonic attraction separate from sexual desire. They might be both ace and "aro" (or aromantic) and have no inclination toward people sexually or romantically.]
    • 2021 February 4, @LilyGaspari, Twitter‎[5] (post):
      Meu namorado é allo, eu sou ace.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      (Can we archive this URL?)
    • 2023, Mariana Chaznas, “2020, 2020, 2020, 2020... Ou: cinquenta anos em um”, in A hora certa; published in A gente se vê na parada, Rio de Janeiro: HarperCollins, 2023, →ISBN, unnumbered page:
      Conversei com Rayssa. Li bastante. Conversei de novo com Rayssa. Achei influencers aces e conversei outra vez com Rayssa, e tive que aceitar que ela nunca entenderia como eu me sentia. Estava longe demais da realidade dela. Eu era outro planeta.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

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ace m or f by sense (plural aces)

  1. (LGBTQ, chiefly Internet slang) ace (person who is asexual)
    Synonym: assexual
    • 2021 June 30, Jessica Klein, “Assexualidade: como orientação sexual 'invisível' saiu do armário”, in BBC News Brasil‎[6], Brasília, archived from the original on 30 June 2021:
      Antes do Dia Internacional da Assexualidade, Manuel criou o AceChat, uma conta no Instagram em que compartilha regularmente histórias de diferentes pessoas que se identificam como ace.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2024 November 25, @richasstuff, X (formerly Twitter)‎[7] (post):
      […] cara q como pode essa seleção natural em que quase todos os aces nerdolas desse país eventualmente viraram fãs do cellbit tipo COMO
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      (Can we archive this URL?)
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Further reading

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Romanian

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Noun

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ace

  1. plural of ac

Scots

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Etymology

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From Middle English as, from Old French as (“ace”), from Latin as, assis (“as (Roman coin)”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ace (plural aces)

  1. The smallest possible amount of something.
  2. The best of a class of things.

References

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Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English ace. Doublet of as.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈeis/ [ˈei̯s]
  • Rhymes: -eis
  • Syllabification: ace

Noun

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ace m (plural aces)

  1. (tennis) ace (point scored without the opponent hitting the ball)

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Ternate

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ace

  1. a trace, mark

References

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  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
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