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an

[uhn; when stressed an]

indefinite article

the form of a before an initial vowel sound (an arch; an honor) and sometimes, especially in British English, before an initial unstressed syllable beginning with a silent or weakly pronounced h: an historian.

Origin:
before 950; Middle English; Old English ān one in a weakened sense

Usage note
See a¹.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

An is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Example Sentences

Belief that it had been caused by an explosion caused.

Online education provides an unprecedented opportunity to.

Trim hides the brackets supporting the shelves, creating an elegant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

conjunction

Pronunciation Spelling. and.

Archaic. if.

Also, an', 'n, 'n'.

Origin:
1125–75; Middle English, unstressed phonetic variant of and

noun

the Sumerian god of heaven: the counterpart of the Akkadian Anu.

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:
< Greek. See a-⁶, in-³, un-¹

variant of ad- before n: announce.

variant of ana- before a vowel: anion.

a suffix occurring originally in adjectives borrowed from Latin, formed from nouns denoting places (Roman; urban) or persons (Augustan), and now productively forming English adjectives by extension of the Latin pattern. Attached to geographic names, it denotes provenance or membership (American; Chicagoan; Tibetan), the latter sense now extended to membership in social classes, religious denominations, etc., in adjectives formed from various kinds of noun bases (Episcopalian; pedestrian; Puritan; Republican) and membership in zoological taxa (acanthocephalan; crustacean). Attached to personal names, it has the additional senses “contemporary with” (Elizabethan; Jacobean) or “proponent of” (Hegelian; Freudian) the person specified by the noun base. The suffix -an, and its variant -ian also occurs in a set of personal nouns, mainly loanwords from French, denoting one who engages in, practices, or works with the referent of the base noun (comedian; grammarian; historian; theologian); this usage is especially productive with nouns ending in -ic (electrician; logician; technician). See -ian for relative distribution with that suffix.

Compare -enne, -ean, -arian, -ician.

Origin:
Middle English < Latin -ānus, -āna, -ānum; in some words replacing -ain, -en < Old French < Latin

Anglo-Norman.

Also, A.-N.

Symbol, Chemistry.

actinon.

in the year.

Origin:
< Latin annō

Anglo-Norman.

Associate in Nursing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To an

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World English Dictionary

an¹ (æn, (unstressed) ən)

—*determiner*
	a form of the indefinite article used before an initial vowel sound: an old car; an elf; an honour

usage An was formerly often used before words that begin with h and are unstressed on the first syllable: an hotel; an historic meeting. Sometimes the initial h was not pronounced. This usage is now becoming obsolete

an or an'² (æn, (unstressed) ən, æn, (unstressed) ən)

—*conj*
	(subordinating) an obsolete or dialect word for if See and

an' or an'²

—*conj*

an or an'² (æn, (unstressed) ən, æn, (unstressed) ən)

—*conj*
	(subordinating) an obsolete or dialect word for if See and

an' or an'²

—*conj*

an³

—*the internet domain name for*
	Netherlands Antilles

An¹ (ɑːn)

—n
	myth Babylonian counterpart: Anu the Sumerian sky god

An²

—*the chemical symbol for*
	actinon

AN

—*abbreviation for*
	Anglo-Norman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

indefinite article, 12c., from O.E. an (with a long vowel) "one, lone," also used as a prefix an- "single, lone;" see one for the divergence of that word from this. Also see a, of which this is the older, fuller form. In other European languages, identity between indefinite

EXPAND

article and the word for "one" remains explicit (e.g. Fr. un, Ger. ein, etc.) O.E. got by without indefinite articles: He was a good man in O.E. was he wæs god man. Circa 15c., a and an commonly were written as one word with the following noun, which contributed to the confusion over how such words as newt and umpire ought to be divided (see N). In Shakespeare, etc., an sometimes is a contraction of as if (a usage first attested c.1300), especially before it.

an-

privative prefix, from Gk., "not, without," related to ne- and cognate with Skt. an-, L. in-, Goth., O.E. un- (see un-).

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

an- pref.
Variant of a-.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary