a-

From the Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not, without”).

a-

1. Used to form taxonomic names indicating a lack of some feature that might be expected

a-

1. (SI prefix) abbreviation of atto-

From Middle English a- (“up, out, away”), from Old English ā-, originally *ar-, *or-, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out-”), from Proto-Indo-European *uds- (“up, out”). Cognate with Old Saxon a-, German er-.

• IPA^(key): /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

a-

2. (no longer productive) Forming verbs with the sense away, up, on, out.

   arise, await

4. (no longer productive) Forming verbs with the sense of intensified action.

   abide, amaze

• From Middle English a- (“on”), derived from unstressed Middle English an (“on”), from Old English an (“on”).
• See a (preposition, on, to, in, etc.)

• IPA^(key): /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

a-

2. (rare or no longer productive) In, on, at; used to show a state, condition, or manner. Also passing into sense 2. [First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

   aglow, apace, afire, aboil, a-bling, abluster

4. (no longer productive) In, into. Also passing into sense 5. [First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

   asunder

6. In the direction of, or toward. [First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

   astern, abeam

8. (archaic or dialectal) At such a time. [First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

   Come a-morning we are going hunting.

10. (archaic or dialectal) In the act or process of. Used in some dialects before a present participle. [First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

    hits a-poppin

    doins a-transpirin [doings a-transpiring]

    • 1777, Thomas Arne, A-Hunting We Will Go:
    • 1780, The Twelve Days of Christmas:

      The twelfth day of Christmas,

      My true love sent to me

      Twelve lords a-leaping,

      …

      Eight maids a-milking,

      Seven swans a-swimming,

      Six geese a-laying,

    • circa 1850, Here We Come A-wassailing/Here We Come A-caroling

      Here we come a-wassailing

      Among the leaves so green;

      Here we come a-wand’ring

      So fair to be seen.

    • 1939, Alfred Edward Housman, Additional Poems, XIII, lines 6-7:

      Oh waste no words a-wooing
      The soft sleep to your bed;

    • 1947, A NORTH-COUNTY DUBLIN CLOSSARY:^[2]

      The hay is a-cutting now. You're a-wanting.

    • 1964, Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are a-Changin' " (recorded 1963, released 1964):

      The order is rapidly fadin'

      And the first one now will later be last

      For the times they are a-changin'

    • circa 1970, bumper sticker:^[3]

      If the van’s a-rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’.

Adjectives formed with this prefix are often restricted to predicative use, owing to their origin as prepositional phrases with the preposition "on." For example, one may say "the ship is afire," but not "the afire ship," just as one may say "the ship is on fire," but not "the on fire ship."

From Middle English a-, a variant form of y-, from Old English ġe-, from Proto-West Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with”).

• i-

• IPA^(key): /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

a-

2. Alternative form of y- (archaic and dialectal) In dialect, it is sometimes conflated with sense 5 of the previous definition, and is used as a general indicator of a participle. [First attested around 1150 to 1350 (Middle English).]^[1]

   aware, alike

4. (Devon) Used to form the past participle of a verb.

   I have a-gone.

   I have a-seen a bird.

From Anglo-Norman a-, from Old French e-, from Latin ex-.

• IPA^(key): /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

a-

2. (no longer productive) Forming words with the sense of wholly, or utterly out. [First attested from around 1150 to 1350.]^[1]

   abash

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately followed by a vowel).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /eɪ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /æɪ/
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /ə/, /a/ (not in atheist)

a-

2. Not, without, opposite of.

   amoral, asymmetry, atheism, asexual, acyclic, atypical

   • 1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, page 7:

     When invited to believe in the Chimaera, the horse-centaurs, or the winged horse Pegasus, all of them straightforward Pelasgian cult-symbols, a philosopher felt bound to reject them as a-zoölogical improbabilities [...].

   • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 191:

     If aroused outside the proper outlet of marriage, [female lust] could range out of control, turning its possessor into an a-feminine monster: that is what happened to fallen women.

• This prefix is referred to as alpha privative.
• Used with stems that begin with consonants except sometimes h. an- is synonymous and is used in front of words that start with vowels and sometimes h.^[4] For example, anesthetic and analgesic.

• (not): an-, dys-, i-/il-/im-/in-/ir-, mal-, non-, un-

From Middle English a-, from Middle French a-, from Latin ad (“towards”).

a-

2. (no longer productive) Towards; Used to indicate direction, reduction to, increase to, change into, or motion. [First attested from around 1150 to 1350.]^[1]

   ascend, aspire, amass, abandon, avenue

• Used on stems that started with sc, sp, or st, and also used on stems with a French origin.
• Used in place of ad-.^[5]

From Latin ab (“of, off, from, away”).

a-

2. (no longer productive) Away from. [First attested from around 1150 to 1350.]^[1]

   avert, aperient, abridge, assoil,^[4] assoilzie

• Variation of the prefix ab-, only used when the stem starts with the letter p or v, ^[4] or (rarely) s in which case the s is doubled (as in assoil and assoilzie).

From Middle English a-, o- (“of”). See a (preposition, of).

a-

2. (no longer productive) Of, from. [First attested prior to 1150.]^[1]

   anew, afresh, athirst^[4]

Different Germanic and Latinate senses of a- became confused (vaguely “intensive") and are all unproductive. The Greek sense of “not” (e.g., amoral, asymmetry) remains in use.

“[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic [nice-sounding], or even archaic, and wholly otiose [pointless].” OED.

• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “a-”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 1.
• Christine A. Lindberg, editor (2002), “a-”, in The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Spark Publishing, →ISBN, page 1.
• Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 1
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “a-”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

a-

2. Alternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”).

   A-tisket a-tasket,
   A green and yellow basket

a-

2. (Chester) Used as a prefix to verbs in the sense of remaining in the same condition.^[1] Actively doing something.

   a-be, a-going

   Let that choilt a-be, wilt ta. ― Let that child alone, will you.^[1]

a-

1. prefix attached to words relating to the mouth, such as the names of languages

• IPA^(key): /a-/

a-

1. (directional) from a distance

SIL International (2020) “Abau Dictionary”, in Webonary.org‎^[2]

a-

1. positive active verbal first-person singular concord

   Akwi ― I wore

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

a-

1. a- (not, without)

   ‎a- + ‎moral (“moral”) → ‎amoral (“amoral”)

From Latin ad (“towards”).

a-

1. used to make verbs from adjectives and nouns

   ‎a- + ‎feble (“weak”) → ‎afeblir (“to weaken”)

   ‎a- + ‎sabor (“taste”) → ‎assaborir (“to taste”)

• “a-”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “a-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “a-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

• IPA^(key): /a/

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *bà-

a-

1. Class 2 noun prefix.

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *à-

a-

1. Class 1 subject concord.

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *bá-

a-

1. Class 2 subject concord.

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *gá-

a-

1. Class 6 subject concord.

From a- (“they”) +‎ -a- (“past perfect infix”). Cognate with Tumbuka ŵa-

a-

1. 3rd person plural subject concord in the past perfect tense.
2. 3rd person singular subject concord for conveying respect in the past perfect tense.

• nda-
• wa-
• ta-
• mwa-

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *báá-

a-

1. Class 2 possessive concord.

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *gáá-

a-

1. Class 6 possessive concord.

a-

1. A verbal prefix used in the imperfect paradigm to express the polite imperative or the cohortative.

   attaxtop! ― Do write!

   attintúrna! ― Watch over us!

   atxottúx! ― Do remember!

It triggers gemination of the following consonant.

• Borg, Alexander (2004) A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 135

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not, without”), from Proto-Hellenic *ə- (“un-, not; without, lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“not, un-”). Doublet of u-.

Compare an- (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

a-

1. a-, un- (not)
2. A- (atomic, nuclear)

   Synonyms: atom-, A-

• an-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

• IPA^(key): /aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

a-

1. a-: not, without, opposite of

• an-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

• IPA^(key): /a/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: a

a-

1. without, -less

• mal-, ne-, sen-

Internationalism (see English a-), ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑ-/, [ˈɑ̝-]

a-

1. (in loanwords) a-, non-, un-

   Synonym: epä-

Inherited from Latin ad-.

a- (ORB)

1. Attaches to verbs, sometimes adding a sense of "toward".

• IPA^(key): /a/

Inherited from Old French a-, from Latin ad-.

a-

1. A prefix forming words, especially verbs, that denote entering a state, making progress toward a goal, or the like.

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel; generalized from the many Latin borrowings using this prefix.

a-

1. a-, non-, -less

• “a-”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /a/

a-

2. marks the first-person singular subject on a verb

   ‎a- + ‎dibaia (“to spear”) → ‎adibaia (“I speared it”)

   ‎a- + ‎'aniani (“to eat”) → ‎a'aniani (“I ate”)

   ‎a- + ‎rogae (“to jump”) → ‎arogae (“I jumped”)

• Oa, Morea and Ma`oni Paul. (November 2013). Tentative Grammar Description for the Gabadi language spoken in Central Province. Editor: Eileen Gasaway. [Unpublished manuscript/course material, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea]. For the prefix a-, see page 23, section "5.1.1 Subject Marking".

From Old Galician-Portuguese a-, from Latin ad-.

a-

1. added to adjective X, forms verbs meaning to make/turn X

   ‎a- + ‎curto (“short”) + ‎-ar → ‎acurtar (“to shorten”)

2. added to noun X, forms verbs meaning to cause or make X or to cause something to have X

   ‎a- + ‎fervor (“passion”) + ‎-ar → ‎afervoar (“to excite”)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

a-

1. a- (not; without)

   Synonym: in-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio:

  (file)

a-

1. a- (not, without, opposite of)

• “a-” in Duden online
• “a-” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ha- (adjectival prefix for adjectives of measure). Compare Bikol Central ha- and Cebuano ha-.

• IPA^(key): /ʔa/ [ʔa]
• Syllabification: a-

a- (Hanunoo spelling ᜠ)

1. adjectival prefix to words denoting height, length, or depth

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*ha-₁”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

From Sanskrit अ- (a-, “un-, not”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *a-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• Reinforced as borrowing from Dutch a-, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (form ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel), from Proto-Hellenic *ə-, from the same Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• IPA^(key): [a]
• Hyphenation: a

a-

1. a- (not, without, opposite of)

• “a-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• ai- (before a palatalized consonant, both etymologies)

• IPA^(key): /a/, /ə/

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately followed by a vowel).

• IPA^(key): /a/

a-

1. a- (not, without, opposite of)

a-

1. alternative form of ath- used before t

Inherited from Latin ad-.

a-

1. ad- (indicating direction)

• The Italian prefix a- often reduplicates the following consonant (syntactic gemination, raddoppiamento fonosintattico).
• The actual forms usually will be ab- (in abbracciare), ac- (in accorrere), ad- (in addestrare), al- (in allargare) etc.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

a-

1. a- (indicating lack or loss)

• an- (before a vowel)

a-

1. Rōmaji transcription of あ

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /a/

a-

1. (Kamnyu) my

Japhug (Kamnyu) personal pronouns and possessive prefixes
Number	Person	Possessive prefixes	Free pronoun	Genitive
Singular	1st	a-	aʑo, aj	aʑɯɣ
	2nd	nɤ-	nɤʑo, nɤj	nɤʑɯɣ
	3rd	ɯ-	ɯʑo	ɯʑɤɣ
Dual	1st	tɕi-	tɕiʑo	tɕiʑɤɣ
	2nd	ndʑi-	ndʑiʑo	ndʑiʑɤɣ
	3rd		ʑɤni	ʑɤniɣɯ
Plural	1st	i-	iʑo, iʑora, iʑɤra	iʑɤɣ, iʑɤra ɣɯ
	2nd	nɯ-	nɯʑo, nɯʑora, nɯʑɤra	nɯʑɤɣ, nɯʑɤra ɣɯ
	3rd		ʑara	ʑaraɣ, ʑara ɣɯ
Generic		tɯ-	tɯʑo

• (Waingmaw) IPA^(key): [ʔa-]
• (Chipwe) IPA^(key): [ʔa-]
• (Mongko) IPA^(key): [ʔa-]

a-

1. Used to negate the prefixed element: not

• Qingxia Dai, Jie Li (2007) 勒期语研究 [The study of the Leqi language], Beijing: Central Institute for Nationalities Publishing House, →ISBN, page 322
• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[3], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis), page 17
• Mark Wannemacher (2011) A phonological overview of the Lacid language‎^[4], Chiang Mai: Payap University., page 40
• Hideo Sawada (2024) “Differences between ‘Lacid’ and ‘Leqi’”, in Grammatical Phenomena of Sino-Tibetan Languages, volume 6, pages 33-54

ā-

1. alternative form of ab-

Used before bilabial voiced consonants: b-, m- and v-.

From ad (“towards”).

a-

1. (Before a word beginning with sc, sp or st) alternative form of ad-

   ‎a- + ‎scandere (“climb”) → ‎ascendere (“climb up, go up; rise, spring up”)

   ‎a- + ‎scrībere (“write”) → ‎ascrībere (“state in writing, add in writing; insert; appoint, enroll, enfranchise, reckon, number”)

   ‎a- + ‎spīrāre (“breathe”) → ‎aspīrāre (“breathe or blow upon; am favorable to, assist, favor, aid; aspire or desire (to); approach, come near (to)”)

   ‎a- + ‎specere (“observe, look at”) → ‎aspicere (“look at or towards, behold; regard, respect; observe, notice; examine, inspect; consider, ponder”)

   ‎a- + ‎stringere (“press, tighten, compress”) → ‎astringere (“draw close, bind or tie together; tighten, contract; check, restrain; oblige, necessitate”)

   ‎a- + ‎struere (“compose, construct, build; ready, prepare; place, arrange”) → ‎astruere (“build near or to a thing, erect; build on, heap; build an additional structure”)

Via other European languages, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

• IPA^(key): [a]

• Audio:

  (file)

a-

1. Not, not having, without, opposite of.

   ‎a- + ‎seksuāls → ‎aseksuāls

• aon- (before s- (“iterative”) and t- (“cislocative”))

a-

1. irrealis prefix

• Nora Deering, Helga H. Delisle (1976) Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, page 332

• IPA^(key): [a-]

a-

1. (unproductive) Used to form a few adverbs signifying a location or motion from or to above.

• aa

• Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017) A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.‎^[5], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 145

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̀-/

a-

1. someone's, people's

This prefix is often used as a neutral possessive pronoun to make the citation forms of inalienable nouns: amá (“someone's mother”), akʼos (“someone's neck”), ajáád (“someone's leg”), ajááʼ (“someone's ear”), akʼéí (“someone's kin”). The alternative is to use the prefix ha- (“one's”) or bi- (“his/her/its/their”) to make these dictionary forms.

• á-
• ał-
• ahił-

Inherited from Latin ad-.

a-

1. compare Italian a-

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

a- (medial wa-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

From Proto-Bantu *gáá-.

a-

1. of; class 6 possessive concord.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

a-

1. Class 6 relative concord.

From the first letter of the Norwegian alphabet a, from Latin a, from Ancient Greek Α (A, “alpha”), likely through the Etruscan language, from Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ), from Proto-Canaanite , from Proto-Sinaitic , from Egyptian 𓃾.

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: a-
• Homophones: A, a, A-, à, ah

a-

2. indicating the first or best in something

   Synonyms: a, A-

   ‎a- + ‎lag → ‎a-lag

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not, without”), from Proto-Hellenic *ə- (“un-, not; without, lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“not, un-”). Doublet of u-.

Compare an- (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

a-

2. a- (not, without, opposite of)

   Synonyms: a, an-

   ‎a- + ‎politisk (“political”) → ‎apolitisk (“apolitical”)

   ‎a- + ‎sosial (“social”) → ‎asosial (“asocial”)

   ‎a- + ‎symmetrisk (“symmetrical”) → ‎asymmetrisk (“asymmetrical”)

   ‎a- + ‎gnostiker (“gnostic”) → ‎agnostiker (“agnostic”)

• an-

Clipping of atom-, from the noun atom (“atom”), from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible, uncut, undivided”), whereas atombombe is a calque of English atomic bomb.

a-

2. short for atom-

   ‎a- + ‎bombe → ‎a-bombe

• “a-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “a-” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “a-” in Store norske leksikon

• A, A-, a

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not, without”).

a-

1. a- (not, without)

• “a-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• ar-, a-

From an earlier form ar-, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz-. Cognate with Old High German ar-, ir- (German er-).

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

ā-

1. from, away, off, out

   āniman ― to take away, to remove

• Middle English: a-
  • English: a-

Inherited from Latin ad-, which was often reduced to a- in compounds.

a-

1. indicating movement towards something
2. (by extension) indicating a change of state
3. intensifying prefix
4. alternative form of es-

From Proto-Celtic *em m and *ed n.

a- (class A infixed pronoun)

1. him (triggers eclipsis)
2. it (triggers lenition)

This form merges with the prefixes ro-, no-, dí-, to-, fo-, ar-, and imm- to form ra-, na-, da-, da-, fa-, ara-, imma- respectively. It disappears after the particle ní (“not”), its only trace being the mutation it causes (eclipsis in the case of the masculine, lenition in the case of the neuter), thus ní cara (“does not love”) vs. ní chara (“does not love it”), ní ben (“does not strike”) vs. ní mben (“does not strike him”).

• IPA^(key): /a/

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

a-

1. stative/active verb forming

   Synonyms: (m)aN-, -um-

2. adjective forming

Borrowed from Sanskrit अ- (a-, “un-, not”)

a-

1. un-, not

From an earlier form ar-, from Proto-Germanic *uz-. Cognate with Old English a-, Old High German ar-, ir- (German er-).

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

a-

1. forming words with the sense from, away, out, off, e.g. animan

• e-, o-

a-

1. Indefinite suffix, used with inalienable nouns, prepositions and non-stative verbs when no person prefix is added.

   achee ― [someone's] ear

• Álvarez, José, Bravo, María (2008) “a-”, in Diccionario básico de la lengua añú [Basic dictionary of the Añú language]‎^[6], Maracaibo, Venezuela: University of Zulia, →ISBN, page 41.

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

a- (medial wa-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

• an-

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
• Homophones: a, -a

a-

1. forming words with the sense of negation, a-

   ‎a- + ‎społeczny → ‎aspołeczny

• a- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ/
• Homophones: A, a, à, há

From Old Galician-Portuguese a-, from Latin ad-.

a-

1. added to adjective X, forms verbs meaning to make/turn X

   ‎a- + ‎vermelho (“red”) + ‎-ar → ‎avermelhar (“to redden”)

   ‎a- + ‎baixo (“low”) + ‎-ar → ‎abaixar (“to lower”)

2. added to noun X, forms verbs meaning to cause or make X or to cause something to have X

   ‎a- + ‎pavor (“dread”) + ‎-ar → ‎apavorar (“to frighten”)

   ‎a- + ‎fama (“fame”) + ‎-ar → ‎afamar (“to make famous”)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• an- (before a vowel sound)

a-

1. a- (not; without)

   Synonym: in-

   amoral ― amoral

   anaeróbio ― anaerobic

Inherited from Classical Latin ad-, from the preposition ad (“to, towards”).

a-

1. ad- (toward, to, tendency)

• IPA^(key): /ə/

From Middle English a- (“on”), derived from unstressed Middle English an (“on”), from Old English an (“on”).

a-

1. on

   aback, agley, agrufe, athort, atween

From Middle English a-, from Old English of- (“off”).

a-

1. off

   adoon

From Old Norse at- (“to”).

a-

1. to

   adae, agae

From Middle English a- (“up, out, away”), from Old English ā-, originally *ar-, *or-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out-”).

a-

1. away from

   abide, arise

From Middle English and-, from Old English and- (“against, back”), from Proto-Germanic *andi- (“across, opposite, against, away”).

a-

1. against, opposite

   alang

From Middle English a-, from Old English ane (“one”).

a-

1. one

   awhile

From ah!

a-

1. ah

   aweel, alake

From Middle English a-, from Middle French a-, from Latin ad (“towards”).

a-

1. towards

   avise

From Latin ab (“of, off, from, away”).

a-

1. away from

   assoilzie

• “a, prefix.¹”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“un-, not”), zero-grade form of *né (“not”). Doublet of ne.

a- (Cyrillic spelling а-)

1. Prefix prepended to words to denote a negation, deprivation or absence of a property denoted by base word.

   Synonyms: bez-, ne-

   ‎a- + ‎sȍcijālan → ‎ȁsocijālan

   ‎a- + ‎simètrija → ‎asimètrija

   ‎a- + ‎brahija → ‎abrahija

• “a-”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Inherited from Latin ad-, from the preposition ad (“to, towards”).

• IPA^(key): /a/

a-

1. added to adjective or noun to create a verb, along with the suffixes -ari or -iri.

   ‎a- + ‎capu (“end”) + ‎-ari → ‎accapari (“to end”)

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

a- (medial wa-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

From Proto-Bantu *gáá-.

a-

1. of; class 6 possessive concord.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

a-

1. Class 6 relative concord.

Inherited from Latin ad-.

a-

1. forms words, especially verbs, that denote entering a state, making progress toward a goal, or the like

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel; generalized from the many Latin borrowings using this prefix.

a-

1. a-, non-, -less

• Used with stems that begin with consonants except h. an- is synonymous and is used in front of words that start with vowels and h. For example, analfabetismo (“analphabetism”).

• “a-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Other scripts
Ajami	اَـ

From Proto-Bantu *à-.

a-

1. she, he; 3rd person singular (m class_(I)) subject concord

   Antonym: ha-

   • 18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, Al-Inkishafi‎^[7], translation from R. Allen (1946) “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, in African Studies, volume 5, number 4, →DOI, pages 243–249, stanza 14:

     اِدَاوُ كِغِمَ هُمِتَ پِيْبِ ، اَسِپَتِ كَطِ كُنَ مَااِيِ

     Endao kwegema humita pembe, asipate kaṭi kunwa maiye.

     he charges the comer, none tastes of the water

a-

1. contraction of a- + -a- (“3rd person singular (m class_(I)) gnomic”)

From Proto-Bantu *à-.

a- (medial ka-)

1. he, she, it; class 1 subject concord, used in the subjunctive and potential mood.

• u- (in other cases)

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

a- (medial wa-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

From Proto-Bantu *gáá-.

a-

1. of; class 6 possessive concord.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma-, from Proto-Austronesian *ma- (stative prefix).

a-

1. used to form adjectives indicating a quality

   ‎a- + ‎amis (“sweetness”) → ‎a-amis (“sweet”)

   ‎a- + ‎laat (“badness”) → ‎a-laat (“bad”)

Borrowed from Spanish a, from Latin ad.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔa/ [ʔɐ]
• Syllabification: a-

a- (Baybayin spelling ᜀ)

1. at (indicating time)

   Puntahan kita sa a-primero ng Marso.

   I'll go to you at the first of March.

   Sahuran tuwing a-kinse ng bawat buwan.

   It is payday every 15^th of every month.

   A-treynta y uno kahapon.

   Yesterday was the 31^st.

• Only used before Spanish cardinal numbers to tell the date for a month. For the first day of a month, a-primero is more correct but a-uno is also used by younger speakers. The prefix has the same function as ika- for Tagalog cardinal numbers.
• The prefix is optional but Spanish-oriented speakers often use it.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔa/ [ˈʔaː]
• Syllabification: a-

á- (Baybayin spelling ᜀ) (dialectal, chiefly Mindoro)

1. forms contemplative aspect forms for verbs in the object or directional trigger

• Can be considered as a dialectal equivalent to the reduplicated syllable for some verbs.

  ‎á- + ‎tápon (“throw”) → ‎átápon (“will be thrown”): equivalent to itatapon

  ‎á- + ‎inóm (“drink”) + ‎-in → ‎áinumín (“will be drunk”): equivalent to iinumin

  ‎á- + ‎gawâ (“drink”) + ‎-an → ‎ágaw-án (“will be done for”): equivalent to gagawan

  ‎á- + ‎pakuluan (“to be boiled”) → ‎ápakuluán (“will let to be boiled”): equivalent to pakukuluan

• When used with in-, forms the progressive aspect forms of verbs.

  ‎in- + ‎á- + ‎tápon (“throw”) → ‎inátápon (“being thrown”): equivalent to itinatapon

  ‎in- + ‎á- + ‎inóm (“drink”) → ‎ináinóm (“being drunk”): equivalent to iniinom

  ‎in- + ‎á- + ‎gawâ (“drink”) + ‎-an → ‎inágaw-án (“being done for”): equivalent to ginagawan

  ‎in- + ‎á- + ‎pakuluan (“to be let boiled”) → ‎inápakuluán (“letting to be boiled”): equivalent to pinakukuluan

From Proto-Berber.

a-.

1. the masculine form of nouns.
2. the masculine form of adjectives.

• (before -a- or subjunctive -e-) y-
• (before vowels in other cases) ay-

From Proto-Bantu *à-.

• IPA^(key): /a-/

a-

1. he, she; class 1 subject concord

   ‎a- + ‎-kora (“to do”) → ‎akora (“he/she does”)

• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[8], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 413

From Proto-Italic *ən-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

a- (early Iguvine)

1. alternative form of 𐌀- (a-)

• Buck, Carl Darling (1904) A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian: With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary
• Poultney, James Wilson (1959) The Bronze Tables of Iguvium‎^[9], Baltimore: American Philological Association
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 301

• IPA^(key): /a/

a-

1. affirmative prefix, emphasises prefixed word

   ‎a- + ‎trist (“sad”) → ‎athrist (“very sad, sorrowful”)

   ‎a- + ‎traidd (“piercing, penetration”) → ‎athraidd (“permeable”)

Triggers aspirate mutation of the following consonant.

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “a-”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

a- (medial wa-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

From Proto-Bantu *gáá-.

a-

1. of; class 6 possessive concord.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

a-

1. Class 6 relative concord.

From Proto-Bantu *nkà-.

a-

1. not

Used in the indicative mood, prefixed to the subject concord.

a-

1. 3rd person singular subject concord.

• IPA^(key): [a-]

a-

1. allomorph of öt- (detransitivizing prefix)
2. allomorph of ö- (second-person prefix) used for stems that begin with a consonant and have a first vowel a or e

From Proto-Bantu *à-.

á- (medial ká-)

1. he, she, it; class 1 subject concord, used in the subjunctive and potential mood.

• u- (in other cases)

From Proto-Bantu *gá-.

á- (medial wá-)

1. they; class 6 subject concord.

From Proto-Bantu *gáá-.

a-

1. of; class 6 possessive concord.

Originally a reduced form of la- (“general demonstrative”). Compare Swazi relative forms such as lesi-, which still keep the initial l-.

ā́-

1. Used to form relative clauses.

This prefix has conditioned allomorphs o- and e-.

From a- (“relative”) +‎ a- (“class 6”).

ā́-

1. Class 6 relative concord.

From Proto-Bantu *nkà-.

a-

1. not

Used in the indicative mood, prefixed to the subject concord.

• ka-

a-

1. alternative form of ma- (hortative)

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “a-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “a-”