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Ah

//ɑː// adj, adv, intj, noun, particle, prefix, pron, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Initialism of all human: applied to fan fiction stories in which supernatural characters are reimagined as normal human beings. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, slang
Adverb
  1. 1
    Abbreviation of Anno Hegirae: in the year of the Hegira, used for dates using the Islamic calendar. abbreviation, alt-of
Intj
  1. 1
    An expression of relief, relaxation, comfort, confusion, understanding, wonder, awe, etc. according to uttered inflection.

    "Ah, I understand now."

  2. 2
    Used condescendingly, somewhat like “see?” or “I told you so”. Manglish, Singlish

    "Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/, falling /ɑ(ː)˦˨/, sometimes nasalized"

  3. 3
    Yuck.
  4. 4
    A syllable used to fill space, particularly in music.

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

Noun
  1. 1
    An instance of the interjection ah.

    "the crowd's oohs and ahs at the fireworks"

  2. 2
    Initialism of ampere-hour (unit of charge). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Particle
  1. 1
    Marks a yes–no tag question prompting the listener to clarify or confirm something. interrogative

    "Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/, [ä˨]"

  2. 2
    Reinforces a short, non-rhetorical wh-question. interrogative

    "Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/"

  3. 3
    Emphasizes the need for absolute confirmation, permission or acknowledgment.

    "Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/"

  4. 4
    A particle indicating the topic of a sentence from its comment.

    "Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/"

  5. 5
    A confirmative final particle used in the middle of a sentence to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

    "Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/"

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    Tagged at the end of non-interrogative sentence to convey a sense of informality or resignation.

    "Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/"

  2. 7
    A vocative particle, now mostly used by Chinese elders for direct address (over telephone calls, or if the addressee is far away).

    "Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/"

  3. 8
    Used as an intensifier in fixed expressions, sometimes exhortative in meaning.

    "Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/, low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/"

Prefix
  1. 1
    A prefix of Chinese origin used with a shortened form of given names to express familiarity, roughly equivalent to a nickname. morpheme

    "Ah Ming moved out of Chinatown last year."

  2. 2
    prefix for attack helicopter, helicopter gunship designations US, morpheme
Pronoun
  1. 1
    Pronunciation spelling of I, most often indicating that the speaker is using a Scottish or American (particularly Southern) accent or African-American Vernacular English. alt-of, personal, pronoun, pronunciation-spelling

    "Did ah ever say anything derogatory against ma man Franco? Well, likesay. . . he's no a bad punter."

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of ah (“I”). alt-of
Verb
  1. 1
    To give a cry of "ah".

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

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah). Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah). Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah). Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

Etymology 4

From Hokkien 啊 (--a, a) and Teochew 啊 (a⁷), reinforced by Tamil -ஆ (-ā, etymology 3 sense 1) among Tamil speakers (Baskaran, 1988).

Etymology 5

From Hokkien 啊 (--a, a) and Teochew 啊 (a⁷), reinforced by Tamil -ஆ (-ā, etymology 3 sense 1) among Tamil speakers (Baskaran, 1988).

Etymology 6

Imitative of a person gagging.

Etymology 7

Borrowed from Chinese 阿.

See also for "ah"

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