a- Hear it!

a-1 definition

a- (ə)

  1. in, into, on, at, to ashore, abed
  2. in the act or state of asleep, a-crying, a-wishing

Etymology: weakened form of OE an, on, in, on

a-2 definition

a- (ə; for 3 ā)

  1. Etymology: OE a-, out of, up

    up, out: now generally used as an intensive awake, arise

  2. Etymology: OE of-, af-

    off, of akin

  3. Etymology: Gr a-, an-, not

    not, without: it becomes an- before a vowel amoral, atypical
  4. ab-: used before m, p, or v avert
  5. ad-: used before sc, sp, or st ascribe

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (3)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
Ka-Ching142 months ago
a- prefix145 years ago
a--hole97 years ago

Browse Forums