ah

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ah"

English

Etymology 1

mid-1400s Old Frankish (replacing English la).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

Interjection

ah

1. An expression of relief, relaxation, comfort, confusion, understanding, wonder, awe, etc. according to uttered inflection.

   Ah, I understand now.

   Ah! It's good to be back home!

   Ah, the flowers of spring.

2. A syllable used to fill space, particularly in music.
   • 2008, Britney Spears, Womanizer (song)

     Boy don't try to front, uh, I
     Know just, just, what you are, ah, ah.

Related terms

• aah
• aha
• ha
• oh
• uh

 

Translations

an expression

• Arabic: آه‎ (ar) (ʾāh)

  Egyptian Arabic: آه‎ (āh), أها‎ (ʾahā)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哦 (zh) (ò)

• Dutch: ah (nl)
• Esperanto: ha (eo), ah (eo)
• Estonian: aa (et), ah (et), ee (et), oi (et), oo
• Finnish: aa (fi)
• French: ah (fr)
• Greek: α (el) (a)
• Hungarian: ah (hu)
• Ido: ah (io)
• Irish: á

• Japanese: ああ (ja) (ā), あ (ja) (a), 嗚呼 (ja) (ああ, ā)
• Korean: 아 (ko) (a)
• Malay: ah (ms)
• Persian: آها‎ (âhâ)
• Polish: ach (pl), a (pl)
• Portuguese: ah (pt)
• Russian: а (ru) (a), ага́ (ru) (agá), о (ru) (o)
• Slovak: ach
• Swedish: ah (sv)
• Thai: อ้อ (th) (ɔ̂ɔ)
• Vietnamese: à (vi)
• Welsh: a (cy)

word to fill space

• Estonian: ee (et)

• Greek: α (el) (a), ω (el) (o)

word used for drama

• Estonian: ah (et)
• Greek: α (el) (a)

• Hebrew: אבוי‎ (he) (avoy)
• Swedish: ack (sv)

Noun

ah (plural ahs)

1. An instance of the interjection ah.

   the crowd's oohs and ahs at the fireworks

Verb

ah (third-person singular simple present ahs, present participle ahing, simple past and past participle ahed)

1. To give a cry of "ah".
   • 2005, T. R. Rhoads, Sinner, Sailor: A Memoir (page 221)

     Mother and dad oohed and ahed over Cindy. She was only two months old but already was developing her personality.

Pronoun

ah (personal pronoun, plural we, possessive adjective mah)

1. Pronunciation spelling of I, most often indicating that the speaker is using a Scottish or American (particularly Southern) accent.

Etymology 2

• Borrowed from Min Nan 啊 (a).

Particle

ah (Singapore, Singlish, Malaysia)

1. (colloquial, informal) Sentence-final particle expressing surprise or doubt.
   • 2020 April 12, Notdumb, “Liddat is safe distance ah?”, in SG Talk‎^[1]:

     Only 2 ft apart considered safe ah?

References

• “ah”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ah” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

• HA, Ha, ha, ha'

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Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌh/

Pronoun

áh

1. this, these (masculine)

Declension

Declension of áh
absolutive	áh
predicative	áha
subjective	áh
genitive	ahtí
Postpositioned forms l-case áhal k-case áhak t-case áhat h-case áhah

See also

Afar demonstrative pronouns

	masculine	feminine
proximal to the speaker(s)	áh	táh
proximal to the spoken to	amáh	tamáh
distal	wóh	tóh
very distal	wóttih

References

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “ah”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[2], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

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Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *aksa, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”) (compare Greek οξιά (oxiá, “beech”), Armenian հածի (haci), English ash).

Noun

ah m (indefinite plural ahe, definite singular ahu, definite plural ahet)

1. beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Hyponyms

• ah i bardhë (“white hornbeam”) (Carpinus betulus)

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Chickasaw

Adverb

ah

1. yes

   Synonym: hohmi

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Esperanto

Interjection

ah

1. ah, oh

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Syllabification: ah

Interjection

ah

1. oh, ah

Anagrams

• ha

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

ah

1. ah

Derived terms

• ah bon

Further reading

• “ah”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈaː]

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, etc.)

References

• “ah” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “ah” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “ah” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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German

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aː

Interjection

ah

1. expressing understanding
2. expressing contentment

Further reading

• “ah” in Duden online
• “ah” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

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Hungarian

Etymology

Involuntary expression of emotions: surprise, impatience, desire, sadness, refusal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒx]
• Rhymes: -ɒx

Interjection

ah

1. ah
   • 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 1 [3]

     Ah jó uram, mit láttam én az éjjel!

     Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

Further reading

• ah in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• ah in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (’A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2022)

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/^*, /ˈa.a/, /ˈah/, /ˈaʔ/, /ˈha/^*, /ˈʔa/^*, /ˈhaʔ/, /ˈʔah/
• Rhymes: -a, -aa, -ah, -aʔ
• Hyphenation: àh

Interjection

ah

1. ah! (usually ironic or sarcastic)

   Synonym: ha

Anagrams

• ha

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ah/, [äh]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a/, [ä]

Interjection

ah

1. ah

References

• “ah”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

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Min Nan

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 鴨 (“duck”). (This character, ah, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 鴨.)

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 矣 (“particle expressing completion”). (This character, ah, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 矣.)

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Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

Conjunction

ah

1. (Anglian) Alternative form of ac (“but”)

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Palikur

Noun

ah n or f

1. (neuter) wood
2. (feminine) tree

References

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

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Pohnpeian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɐː/
• Rhymes: -ɐː

Etymology 1

Noun

ah

1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

Etymology 2

Noun

ah

1. shark mullet (Rhinomugil nasutus), at a growth stage of approximately twelve inches

Etymology 3

Conjunction

ah

1. however, and, then

   I sukuhl, ah e doadoahk.

   I went to school, and he worked.

   Ma Soulik pahn iang, ah I sohte pahn iang.

   If Soulik goes, then I won't.

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• e
• eh

Determiner

ah

1. his, her, hers, its, third person singular possessive pronoun

   Liho iang ah pwoud.

   The woman joined her husband.

Etymology 5

Interjection

ah

1. Oh!; commonly used as an expression of approval.

   Ah, ke inenen mai.

   Oh, you are really good.

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Homophone: há

Interjection

ah!

1. ah! (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah! (expression of woe, grief)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ah.

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Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

ah

1. ah

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Somali

Verb

ah

1. (intransitive) To be

   Bariis oo macaan ah. ― Rice that is sweet.

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/, [ˈa]
• Homophones: a, ha

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

Related terms

• ay
• eh
• ey
• hey
• oh
• hala

Anagrams

• ha

Further reading

• “ah”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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Sumerian

Romanization

ah

1. Romanization of 𒄴 (aḫ)

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Swedish

Interjection

ah

1. ah; an expression of relief

Anagrams

• ha

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Tulu-Bohuai

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ah/

Noun

ah

1. coral lime (for chewing/eating with betelnut)

Further reading

• Bohuai
• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

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Vilamovian

Interjection

ah

1. oh: expressing of surprise
2. oh: expressing wonder, amazement, or awe
3. oh: expressing understanding, recognition, or realization
4. oh: preceding an offhand or annoyed remark
5. oh: an invocation or address

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Zou

Ah (1).

Ah (2).

Etymology

From earlier *ak (whence the possessive forms), from Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔaar  (“chicken”). Cognates include Khumi Chin ae and Mizo ár.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʔ˧/

Noun

ah

1. fowl
2. (specifically) chicken (Gallus gallus)

Derived terms

• ahpi
• ahsa

 

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 49