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A-
Definitions
- 1 Forming verbs with the sense away, up, on, out. idiomatic, morpheme
"arise, await"
- 2 In, on, at; used to show a state, condition, or manner. Also passing into sense 2. idiomatic, morpheme, rare
"aglow, apace, afire, aboil, a-bling, abluster"
- 3 Alternative form of y-. In dialect, it is sometimes conflated with sense 5 of the previous definition, and is used as a general indicator of a participle. alt-of, alternative, archaic, dialectal, morpheme
"aware, alike"
- 4 Forming words with the sense of wholly, or utterly out. idiomatic, morpheme
"abash"
- 5 Not, without, opposite of. morpheme
"amoral, asymmetry, atheism, asexual, acyclic, atypical"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 Towards; Used to indicate direction, reduction to, increase to, change into, or motion. idiomatic, morpheme
"ascend, aspire, amass, abandon, avenue"
- 7 Away from. idiomatic, morpheme
"avert, aperient, abridge, assoil, assoilzie"
- 8 Of, from. idiomatic, morpheme
"anew, afresh, athirst"
- 9 Alternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”). alt-of, alternative, morpheme
"A-tisket a-tasket, A green and yellow basket"
- 10 Used as a prefix to verbs in the sense of remaining in the same condition. Actively doing something. morpheme
"a-be, a-going"
- 11 Forming verbs with the sense of intensified action. idiomatic, morpheme
"abide, amaze"
- 12 In, into. Also passing into sense 5. idiomatic, morpheme
"asunder"
- 13 Used to form the past participle of a verb. Devon, morpheme
"I have a-gone."
- 14 In the direction of, or toward. morpheme
"astern, abeam"
- 15 At such a time. archaic, dialectal, morpheme
"Come a-morning we are going hunting."
- 16 In the act or process of. Used in some dialects before a present participle. archaic, dialectal, morpheme
"hits a-poppin"
Etymology
From Middle English a- (“up, out, away”), from Old English ā-, originally *ar-, *or-, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out-”), from Proto-Indo-European *uds- (“up, out”). Cognate with Old Saxon a-, German er-.
* From Middle English a- (“on”), derived from unstressed Middle English an (“on”), from Old English an (“on”). * See a (preposition, on, to, in, etc.)
From Middle English a-, a variant form of y-, from Old English ġe-, from Proto-West Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with”).
From Anglo-Norman a-, from Old French e-, from Latin ex-.
From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), preconsonantal form of ἀν- (an-). Distant doublet of un-.
From Middle English a-, from Middle French a-, from Latin ad (“towards”).
From Latin ab (“of, off, from, away”).
From Middle English a-, o- (“of”). See a (preposition, of).
See also for "a-"
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