Origin: bef. 1000; ME
as, als, alse, also, OE
alswā, ealswā all so (
see also ), quite so, quite as, as; c. MD
alse (D
als), OHG
alsō (MHG
álsō, álse, als, G
also so,
als as, as if, because)
Usage note:As a conjunction, one sense of
as is “because”:
As she was bored, Sue left the room. As also has an equally common use in the sense “while, when”:
As the parade passed by, the crowd cheered and applauded. These two senses sometimes result in ambiguity:
As the gates were closed, he walked away. (When? Because?)
As …
as is standard in both positive and negative constructions:
The fleet was as widely scattered then as it had been at the start of the conflict. Foreign service is not as attractive as it once was. So …
as is sometimes used in negative constructions (…
not so attractive as it once was) and in questions (
“What is so rare as a day in June?”).
The phrase
as far as generally introduces a clause:
As far as money is concerned, the council has exhausted all its resources. In some informal speech and writing,
as far as is treated as a preposition and followed only by an object:
As far as money, the council has exhausted all its resources. As to as a compound preposition has long been standard though occasionally criticized as a vague substitute for
about, of, on, or
concerning: We were undecided as to our destination. As to sometimes occurs at the beginning of a sentence, where it introduces an element that would otherwise have less emphasis:
As to his salary, that too will be reviewed. As to what and
as to whether are sometimes considered redundant but have long been standard:
an argument as to what department was responsible. See also all, because, farther, like, so 1 . 
[az; unstressed uh