a- definition | Dictionary.com

A-

atomic (used in combination): A-bomb; A-plant.

a-

a reduced form of the Old English preposition on, meaning “on,” “in,” “into,” “to,” “toward,” preserved before a noun in a prepositional phrase, forming a predicate adjective or an adverbial element (afoot; abed; ashore; aside; away), or before an adjective (afar; aloud; alow), as a moribund prefix with a verb (acknowledge), and in archaic and dialectal use before a present participle in -ing (set the bells aringing); and added to a verb stem with the force of a present participle (ablaze; agape; aglow; astride; and originally, awry).

Origin:
ME, late OE; cf. a ² , nowadays

a-

a reduced form of the Old English preposition of: akin; afresh; anew.

Origin:
ME; see a ³

a-

an old point-action prefix, not referring to an act as a whole, but only to the beginning or end: She arose (rose up). They abided by their beliefs (remained faithful to the end).

Origin:
ME; OE a- (unstressed), ǣ-, ā-, ō- (stressed; see abb, woof ¹ , oakum ), rarely or- (see ordeal ) ≪ Gmc *uz- < unstressed IE *uss- < *ud-s, akin to out; in some cases confused with a- ⁴ , as in abridge

a-

var. of ab- before p and v: aperient; avert.

Origin:
ME < L ā-, a- (var. of ab- ab- ); in some words < F a- < L ab-, as in abridge

a-

var. of ad-, used: (1) before sc, sp, st (ascend) and (2) in words of French derivation (often with the sense of increase, addition): amass.

Origin:
ME, in some words < MF a- < L ad- prefix or ad prep. (see ad- ), as in abut; in others < L a- (var. of ad- ad- ), as in ascend

a-

var. of an- ¹ before a consonant, meaning “not,” “without”: amoral; atonal; achromatic.

ab-

a formal element occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “away from”: abdicate; abolition.

Also, a-, abs-.

Origin:
< L ab (prep. and prefix) from, away, c. Gk apó, Skt ápa, G ab, E of ¹ , off

an-

a prefix occurring before stems beginning with a vowel or h in loanwords from Greek, where it means “not,” “without,” “lacking” (anarchy; anecdote); used in the formation of compound words: anelectric.

Also, before a consonant, a-.

Origin:
< Gk. See a- ⁶ , in- ³ , un- ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To a-

a-¹ or an-
pref. Without; not: amoral.

[Greek; see ne in Indo-European roots.]

a-²
pref.

On; in: abed.
In the act of: aborning.
In the direction of: astern.
In a specified state or condition: abuzz.

[Middle English, from Old English, from an, on; see on.]

Our Living Language : Prefixing a- to verb forms ending in -ing, as in a-hunting and a-fishing, was once fairly common in vernacular U.S. speech, particularly in the highland areas of the South and in the Southwest. Such verb forms derive from an Old English construction in which a preposition, usually on, was placed in front of a verbal noun—a verb to which -ing had been added to indicate that the action was extended or ongoing. Gradually such prepositions were shortened to a- by the common linguistic process that shortens or drops unaccented syllables. The -ing forms came to be regarded as present participles rather than verbal nouns, and the use of a- was extended to genuine present participles as well as to verbal nouns. Eventually a- disappeared from many dialects, including Standard English in the United States and Great Britain, although it is still retained today in some isolated dialect areas, particularly among older speakers. Today, speakers who use the a- prefix do not use it with all -ing words, nor do they use it randomly. Rather, a- is only used with -ing words that function as part of a verb phrase, as in She was a-running. See Note at Smith Island.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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A-

A-\ A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on or in (from an, a forms of AS. on), denoting a state, as in afoot, on foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (AS. onweg), and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc. (2) AS. of off, from, as in adown (AS. ofd[=u]ne off the dun or hill). (3) AS. [=a]- (Goth. us-, ur-, Ger. er-), usually giving an intensive force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in arise, abide, ago. (4) Old English y- or i- (corrupted from the AS. inseparable particle ge-, cognate with OHG. ga-, gi-, Goth. ga-), which, as a prefix, made no essential addition to the meaning, as in aware. (5) French [`a] (L. ad to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix [alpha] without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-.

Note: Besides these, there are other sources from which the prefix a takes its origin.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : a-

Spanish: la,

German: das A, musik. Note,

Japanese: イ調

More Translations »

a- (1)

in native (derived from O.E.) words, it most commonly represents O.E. an "on" (see a (2)), as in alive, asleep, abroad, ashore, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be M.E. of, as in anew, abreast (1599); or a reduced form of O.E. pp. prefix ge-, as in aware; or the O.E. intens. a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. In words from Romanic languages, often it represents L. ad- "to, at."

"[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose." [OED]

a- (2)

prefix meaning "not," from L. a-, short for ab "away from" (cf. avert), or its cognate, Gk. a-, short for apo "away from, from," both cognate with Skt. apa "away from," Goth. af, O.E. of.

a- (3)

prefix meaning "not," from Gk. a-, an- "not," from PIE base *ne "not" (see un-).

a- or an-
pref.
Without; not: acellular.

a-
A prefix meaning "without" or "not" when forming an adjective (such as amorphous, without form, or atypical, not typical), and "absence of" when forming a noun (such as arrhythmia, absence of rhythm). Before a vowel or h it becomes an- (as in anhydrous, anoxia).

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