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 - 26 dictionary results

ad

1[ad]
–noun
1. advertisement.
2. advertising: an ad agency.

Origin:
1835–45; by shortening

ad

2[ad]
–noun Tennis.
1. advantage (def. 5).
2. ad in, the advantage being scored by the server.
3. ad out, the advantage being scored by the receiver.

Origin:
1945–50; by shortening

ad

3[ad]
–preposition
(in prescriptions) to; up to.

Origin:
< L

ad-

a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “toward” and indicated direction, tendency, or addition: adjoin. Usually assimilated to the following consonant; see a-5, ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an- 2, ap-1, ar-, as-, at-.

Origin:
< L ad, ad- (prep. and prefix) to, toward, at, about; c. at 1

-ad

1
1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Greek denoting a group or unit comprising a certain number, sometimes of years: dyad; triad.
2. a suffix meaning “derived from,” “related to,” “concerned with,” “associated with” (oread), introduced in loanwords from Greek (Olympiad; oread), used sporadically in imitation of Greek models, as Dunciad, after Iliad.

Origin:
Gk -ad- (s. of -as), specialization of fem. adjective-forming suffix, often used substantively

-ad

2
var. of -ade 1 : ballad.

-ad

3
Anatomy, Zoology. a suffix forming adverbs from nouns signifying parts of the body, denoting a direction toward that part: dextrad; dorsad; mediad.

Origin:
< L ad toward, anomalously suffixed to the noun; introduced as a suffix by Scottish anatomist John Barclay (1758–1826) in 1803

ad.

A.D.

1. active duty.
2. in the year of the Lord; since Christ was born: Charlemagne was born in a.d. 742. Origin:
< L annō Dominī
3. art director.
4. assembly district.
5. assistant director.
6. athletic director.
7. average deviation.

Because anno Domini means “in the year of the Lord,” its abbreviation a.d. was originally placed before rather than after a date: The Roman conquest of Britain began in a.d. 43 (or began a.d. 43). In edited writing, it is still usually placed before the date. But, by analogy with the position of b.c. “before Christ,” which always appears after a date (Caesar was assassinated in 44 b.c.), a.d. is also frequently found after the date in all types of writing, including historical works: The Roman emperor Claudius I lived from 10 b.c. to 54 a.d. Despite its literal meaning, a.d. is also used to designate centuries, being placed after the specified century: the second century a.d.

a.d.

1. after date.
2. before the day. Origin:
< L ante diem
3. autograph document.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ad
ad 1   (ād)   
n.  An advertisement.
ad 2   (ād)   
n.  An advantage in tennis.
AD  
abbr.  
  1. active duty

  2. air-dried

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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Cultural Dictionary

A.D.

An abbreviation used with a date, indicating how many years have passed since the birth of Jesus. The abbreviation may appear before the date (a.d. 1988), or it may appear after the date (1988 a.d.). It stands for anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord.” (Compare b.c.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

A.D. 
1579, from L. Anno Domini "Year of the Lord." First put forth by Dionysius Exiguus in 527 or 533 C.E., but at first used only for Church business. Introduced in Italy in 7c., France (partially) in 8c. In England, first found in a charter of 680 C.E. Ordained for all ecclesiastical documents in England by the Council of Chelsea, July 27, 816. The resistance to it may have been in part because Dionysius chose 754 A.U.C. as the birth year of Jesus, while many early Christians would have thought it was 750 A.U.C. [See John J. Bond, "Handy-Book of Rules and Tables for Verifying Dates With the Christian Era," 4th ed., London: George Bell & Sons, 1889]

ad- 
prefix expressing direction toward or in addition to, from L. ad "to toward," from PIE *ad- "to, near, at" (cognate with O.E. æt "at"). Simplified to a- before sc-, sp- and st-; modified to ac- before many consonants and then re-spelled af-, ag-, al- etc., in conformity with the following consonant (e.g. affection, aggression). In O.Fr., reduced to a- in all cases, but written forms were refashioned after L. in 14c. in Fr., and 15c. in Eng. words picked up from O.Fr. In many cases pronunciation followed the shift.

-ad 
suffix denoting collective numerals (cf. Olympiad), from Gk. -as (gen. -ados), a suffix forming fem. nouns; also used in fem. patronymics (Dryad, Naiad, also, in plural, Pleiades, Hyades).

ad 
1841, shortened form of advertisement. Long resisted by those in the trade, and denounced 1918 by the president of a national advertising association as "the language of bootblacks, ... beneath the dignity of men of the advertising profession."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: AD
Function: abbreviation
1 Alzheimer's disease
2 average deviation
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

AD abbr.
Latin auris dextra (right ear)

ad- pref.

  1. or ac- or af- or ag- or al- or ap- or as- or at- Toward; to. Before c, f, g, k, l, p, q, s, and t, ad- is usually assimilated to ac-, af-, ag-, ac-, al-, ap-, ac-, as-, and at-, respectively: adductor, acclimation, agglutinant.

  2. Near; at: adrenal.

-ad suff.
In the direction of; toward: cephalad.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

AD
Administrative Domain

ad networking
The country code for Andorra.
(1999-01-26)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
ad
advertisement
AD
  1. active duty

  2. air-dried

  3. Alzheimer's disease

  4. athletic director

  5. average deviation

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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