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The definition of an is a word used in place of the word “a” when the following word begins with a vowel sound.

(adjective)

An example of when the word an should be used is in front of the word honorary.

See an in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective, indefinite article

one; one sort of: to bake an apple pie
each; any one: pick an apple from the tree

Origin: weakened var. of one < OE an, the numeral one; the older and fuller form of a

to each; in each; for each; per: two an hour

or an'

conjunction

and: an informal spelling
Archaic if

Origin: ME < and, and

in the year

Origin: L anno

(one) belonging to or having some relation to: diocesan
(one) born in or living in: Mexican
(one) believing in or following: Lutheran
-ician: used to form nouns only

Origin: Fr -ain, -en < L -anus, of, belonging to; also directly < L

a- (sense ): used before a vowel

ad-: used before n

See an in American Heritage Dictionary 4

indef.art.

The form of a used before words beginning with a vowel or with an unpronounced h: an elephant; an hour. See Usage Notes at a², every.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old English ān, one; see oi-no- in Indo-European roots

Word History: The forms of the indefinite article are good examples of what can happen to a word when it becomes habitually pronounced without stress. An is in fact a weakened form of one; both an and one come from Old English ān “one.” In early Middle English, besides representing the cardinal numeral “one,” ān developed the special function of indefinite article, and in this role the word was ordinarily pronounced with very little or no stress. Sound changes that affected unstressed syllables elsewhere in the language affected it also. First, the vowel was shortened and eventually reduced to a schwa (ə). Second, the n was lost before consonants. This loss of n affected some other words as well; it explains why English has both my and mine, thy and thine. Originally these were doublets just like a and an, with mine and thine occurring only before vowels, as in Ben Jonson's famous line “Drink to me only with thine eyes.” By the time of Modern English, though, my and thy had replaced mine and thine when used before nouns (that is, when not used predicatively, as in This book is mine), just as some varieties of Modern English use a even before vowels (a apple).

also an'

conjunction
Archaic

And if; if.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , short for and, and

Origin: , from Old English; see and

abbreviation

airman, Navy

abbreviation
Latin