ah

From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah).^[1][2]

Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

ah

1. An expression of relief, relaxation, comfort, confusion, understanding, wonder, awe, etc. according to uttered inflection.

   Ah, I understand now.

   Ah! It's good to be back home!

   Ah, the flowers of spring.

2. A syllable used to fill space, particularly in music.
   • 2008, Britney Spears, “Womanizer”:

     Boy don't try to front, uh, I
     Know just, just, what you are, ah, ah.

ah (plural ahs)

1. An instance of the interjection ah.

   the crowd's oohs and ahs at the fireworks

ah (third-person singular simple present ahs, present participle ahing, simple past and past participle ahed)

1. To give a cry of "ah".
   • 2005, T. R. Rhoads, Sinner, Sailor: A Memoir, page 221:

     Mother and dad oohed and ahed over Cindy. She was only two months old but already was developing her personality.

ah (personal pronoun, plural we, possessive adjective mah)

1. Pronunciation spelling of I, most often indicating that the speaker is using a Scottish or American (particularly Southern) accent.
   • 1993, Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, Times Film School, page 50:

     Did ah ever say anything derogatory against ma man Franco? Well, likesay. . . he's no a bad punter.

From Hokkien 啊 (--a, a) and Teochew 啊 (a⁷). For Tamil speakers, its use as a particle is possibly reinforced by Tamil -ஆ (-ā, sense 1).

• ar

• (Singapore, Malaysia) IPA^(key): /ɑ(ː)/, [ä(ː)~ɐ(ː)]*
  • *The different senses of this word are distinguished by lexical tone.

ah (Manglish, Singlish)

2. (interrogative) Marks a yes–no tag question prompting the listener to clarify or confirm something.

   Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/, [ä˨]

   Synonyms: (Singapore) hah, is it, izzit

   You’re dyslexic ah? ― So you’re dyslexic?

   • 1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 3, lines 49–50:

     So how are you Jackson? Very busy, ah? Never come around to see me these days.

   • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 80:

     Cannot talk-ah? God give you mouth for what? No courtesy-ah? Kanneena!

   • 2020 April 12, Notdumb, “Liddat is safe distance ah?”, in SG Talk‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 April 2020:

     Only 2 ft apart considered safe ah?

4. (interrogative) Reinforces a short, non-rhetorical wh-question.

   Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/

   How do you delete this row ah?

   • 2011 October 23, Rachel Chang, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 15:

     See how lor. Who’s going ar?

6. Emphasizes the need for absolute confirmation or acknowledgment, sometimes used when asking for permission.

   Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/

   Synonym: (more assertive, non-interrogative) hor (sense 1)

   Don't drink and drive ah...

   • 2010 April 18, Colin Goh, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 24:

     Sure, ah? Thanks, man, pai seh.

8. A particle indicating the topic of a sentence from its comment.

   Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/

   The drilling upstairs ah, non-stop leh.

   • 2014, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Singapore Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 89:

     These fish, ah, anything also eat one.

10. A confirmative final particle used to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

    Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/

12. A vocative particle, now mostly used by Chinese elders for direct address (over telephone calls, or if the addressee is far away).

    Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/

    Hello? Joey ah? ― Hello? Is this Joey?

    • 1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 3:

      Susie ah, Emily here ah. This afternoon I'm going to town, anything that you're needing?

14. Used as an intensifier in fixed expressions, sometimes exhortative in meaning.

    Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/, low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/

    Heng ah... ― Phew!

ah (Manglish, Singlish)

2. Used condescendingly, somewhat like “see?” or “I told you so”.

   Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/, falling /ɑ(ː)˦˨/, sometimes nasalized

• (question tags in Singlish): is it, ya

Discourse particles in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English
⟵ More assertiveLess assertive ⟶
Expressing objection	what	Characterizing	one1–3	Expressing inevitability	lor2–3	Expressing resignation	lor1	Expressing uncertainty	leh1–2
Explanatory	mah	Assertive	lah1–14	Intensifying	sia	Agreement-seeking	hor2	Confirmation-seeking	ah1–3, hah1–3
Expressing skepticism	meh	Declarative	leh3–6, hor1, know, nia	Speculative	ba2	Conveying tentativeness	leh7–11, ba1
Non-pragmatic
Aspect-marking					liao, already
References Gupta, A. F. (1992) “The pragmatic particles of Singapore colloquial English”, in Journal of Pragmatics, volume 18, number 1, →DOI

Imitative of a person gagging.

• IPA^(key): /æ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

ah

1. Yuck.

• “ah”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ah”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Lim, L. (2004) Singapore English: A grammatical description‎^[2], John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 121

• HA, Ha, ha, ha'

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/ [ˈʔʌh]

áh

1. this, these (masculine)

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “ah”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[3], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

From Proto-Albanian *aksa, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”) (compare Greek οξιά (oxiá, “beech”), Armenian հածի (haci), English ash).

ah m (plural ahe, definite ahu, definite plural ahet)

1. beech (Fagus sylvatica)

• ah i bardhë (“white hornbeam”) (Carpinus betulus)

• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[4], 1980
• “ah”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• Newmark, L. (1999) “ah”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary

Imitative, similar to French ah.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Syllabification: ah
• Rhymes: -a

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

Imitative, similar to French ah.

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈa]

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

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

ah

1. yes

   Synonym: hohmi

Partly borrowed from German, English, French, from Latin ah (“ah”), from Proto-Indo-European *ā. Partly also onomatopoeic.

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål ah, English ah, German ah, French ah and Latin ah.

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/, /ˈɛːɛ/, /ɑ̈ː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛː, -ɑ̈ː
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. used to express pleasure, e.g. because something tastes good or feels nice

   Coordinate terms: mm, mums, namnam

   ah, sikken en dejlig pandekage

   ah what a delicious pancake

   Synonym: uhm

   1. used to express pleasant surprise

      "ah, velkommen Albert," sagde Sickert til prinsen

      "ah, welcome Albert," said Sickert to the prince

      Synonym: minsandten

2. used to express reservations, slight disagreement, doubt etc.

   bliver man også nervøs? Ah ikke så meget

   do you get nervous too? Ah, not so much

   Synonym: arh

• “ah” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Ah, ha, HA

An onomatopoeia, first recorded in 1285.

• IPA^(key): /aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

ah

1. ah (expressing understanding or surprise)

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

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

ah

1. ah, oh

Found in a wide variety of languages, including but not limited to Estonian ah, Ingrian ah, Karelian ah, Ludian ah, Veps ah, Votic ah, Hungarian ah, Swedish ah, German ah, English ah, Latin ah. Tracing an exact origin is effectively impossible. Probably ultimately involuntary or natural.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑ̝h]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Syllabification^(key): ah
• Hyphenation^(key): ah

ah

1. oh, ah

• “ah”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[5] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• ha

Inherited from Old French a! (“oh! ah! woe!”), of expressive origin.

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio:

  (file)

ah

1. ah

• ah bon

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ah”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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

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

• IPA^(key): [ˈaː]

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, etc.)

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ah”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ah”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ah”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

From Middle High German ā, from Old High German a, ah, from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah. Cognate with Middle Low German a, Middle English a, aa, ah (whence English ah).

• Rhymes: -aː

ah

1. expressing understanding
2. expressing contentment

• “ah” in Duden online
• “ah” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 鴨 (“duck”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 鴨).

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 矣 (“particle expressing completion”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 矣).

Involuntary expression of emotions: surprise, impatience, desire, sadness, refusal.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒx]
• Rhymes: -ɒx

ah

1. ah
   • 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 1 [6]

     Ah jó uram, mit láttam én az éjjel!

     Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

• ah in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• ah in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Unknown

• from Arabic آهْ (ʔāh)
• from Peranakan Indonesian ach (“oh”), from Dutch ach (“oh”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈah/ [ˈah]
• Rhymes: -ah
• Syllabification: ah

ah

1. oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay

• “ah” 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.

• ak

Ultimately a natural sound. Compare Finnish ah and Estonian ah.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. Exclamation of wonder: oh!

   Ah kui siä oot käppiä! ― Oh how beautiful you are!

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 3

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/, which may be preceded and/or followed by [h] or [ʔ]. It also may trigger syntactic gemination.^[1]
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. (sarcastic) ah! (usually ironic or sarcastic)

   Synonym: ha

• ha

• IPA^(key): /a̤/

ah (upper case Ah)

1. A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ā or perhaps *h₂eh₂.^[1]

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaː(ɦ)]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈa]

āh

1. ah

• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/ [ˈah]
• Rhymes: -ah
• Hyphenation: ah

ah (Jawi spelling اه)

1. (informal) Particle to express astonishment, disapproval, dismay, complaint, disagreement.

   Ah, itukah yg kau­maksudkan! ― Oh, is that what you mean!

   Ah, seganlah aku! ― Oh, I'm ashamed!

   Ah, mengapa budak-budak itu tidak dapat berfikir! ― Oh, why can't those boys think!

• > Indonesian: ah (inherited)

• lah
• la

• “ah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

ah

1. (one's) thing

Like many terms in Mokilese, ah has no non-possessive form; the third person singular possessive form (one's/his/her/its thing) is therefore treated as the lemma.

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

ah

1. (Anglian) alternative form of ac (“but”)

āh

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of āgan

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

ah n or f

1. (neuter) wood
2. (feminine) tree

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ɐː/
• Rhymes: -ɐː

ah

1. The name of the Latin-script letter A/a.

ah

1. shark mullet (Rhinomugil nasutus), at a growth stage of approximately twelve inches

ah

1. however, and, then

   I sukuhl, ah e doadoahk.

   I went to school, and he worked.

   Ma Soulik pahn iang, ah I sohte pahn iang.

   If Soulik goes, then I won't.

• e
• eh

ah

1. his, her, hers, its, third person singular possessive pronoun

   Liho iang ah pwoud.

   The woman joined her husband.

ah

1. Oh!; commonly used as an expression of approval.

   Ah, ke inenen mai.

   Oh, you are really good.

• a

Onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Homophones: há, a, à

ah!

1. ah! (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah! (expression of woe, grief)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ah.

Onomatopoeic.

ah

1. ah

• a

ah

1. (Cromarty) who

• Am Baile (2009) The Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect‎^[7], Highland Council, page 8

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

ah

1. (intransitive) To be

   Bariis oo macaan ah. ― Rice that is sweet.

Imitative, similar to French ah.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/ [ˈa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Homophones: a, ha

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

• “ah”, 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

• ha

ah

1. romanization of 𒄴 (aḫ)

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

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, relaxation, contentment, etc.)

   Ah, jag förstår

   Ah, I understand

   Ah, det är skönt att få glida ner i jacuzzin och knäcka en kall öl efter ett hårt arbetspass i skogen

   Ah, it's nice [feels good] to slip ["get to slip" – redundant, but sounds natural] into the jacuzzi and crack open a cold beer after a session of hard work in the forest

   Greven såg ut över sina ägor och tänkte "Ah, underbart!"

   The count looked out over his lands ["ownings"] and thought, "Ah, wonderful!"

• ah in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ah in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• ha

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

• IPA^(key): /ah/

ah

1. coral lime (for chewing/eating with betelnut)

• Bohuai
• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

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

ah

1. oh: expressing of surprise
2. oh: expressing wonder, amazement, or awe
3. oh: expressing understanding, recognition, or realization
4. oh: preceding an offhand or annoyed remark
5. oh: an invocation or address

From earlier *ak (whence the possessive forms), from Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔaar (“chicken”). Cognates include Khumi Chin ae and Mizo ár.

• IPA^(key): /àʔ/

ah

1. fowl
2. (specifically) chicken (Gallus gallus)

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 49