an-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "an"

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English an-, from Old English an-, on- (on-), from Proto-West Germanic *ana-, from Proto-Germanic *ana- (on). More at on.

Alternative forms

Prefix

an-

  1. Alternative form of on-.
    ancome, aneal, anent

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-). Doublet of un- and in- .

Prefix

an-

  1. not; used to make words that have a sense opposite to the word (or stem) to which the prefix is attached. Used with stems that begin with vowels and "h".
  2. Without, lacking.
    anoxia (without oxygen), anandrous (without male parts)
Synonyms
Derived terms
English terms prefixed with an-

See also

Anagrams

Aromanian

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of ãn-

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

  • am- (when followed by a vowel or a consonant which is labial)

Prefix

an-

  1. Subject prefix for verbs; it indicates that the subject is second-person plural; you, you all.

Cornish

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-. Cognate with Welsh an-.

Prefix

an-

  1. un-, non-
    Synonyms: di-, dis-, heb, on-
    an- + ‎galladow (possible) → ‎analladow (impossible)
    an- + ‎dien (complete) → ‎andhien (incomplete)

Usage notes

  • Triggers soft mutation of b, d, and g.

Derived terms

Cornish terms prefixed with an-

References

  • Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF) (in Cornish), 2018, published 2018, page 11

Danish

Etymology

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

Prefix

an-

  1. an-

Derived terms

Danish terms prefixed with an-

Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɑn/
  • Audio:(file)

Prefix

an-

  1. an-: Not, without, opposite of

Derived terms

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an‿/

Prefix

an-

  1. in-, an-. alternative form of a- before a vowel or h

Derived terms

German

Etymology 1

From the preposition an, from Middle High German an(e), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana. Compare Dutch aan-, English on-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an/, [ʔan]
    • Audio:(file)
    • Homophone: an
  • IPA(key): /aːn/ (still sometimes Austria, Switzerland; in Germany now highly archaic)

Prefix

an-

  1. onto, at, towards (the object)
    an- + ‎schrauben (to screw) → ‎anschrauben (to screw on, attach by screwing)
    an- + ‎schreien (to shout) → ‎anschreien (to shout at)
    an- + ‎bauen (to build) → ‎anbauen (to attach, expand, build next to)
  2. near, over, towards (the subject)
    Synonyms: her-, herbei-
    Antonyms: ab-, weg-, fort-
    an- + ‎ziehen (to pull) → ‎anziehen (to attract, pull towards one)
    an- + ‎kaufen (to buy) → ‎ankaufen (to buy so as to form a stock, buy up)
  3. expresses a beginning, partial or slight action
    Antonyms: durch-, fertig-, weg-
    an- + ‎knabbern (to nibble) → ‎anknabbern (to nibble part of, start to nibble)
    an- + ‎braten (to fry) → ‎anbraten (to sear, fry outwardly or slightly)
    an- + ‎zahlen (to pay) → ‎anzahlen (to pay down, pay part of)
  4. on, in use
    Antonym: aus-
    an- + ‎stellen (to put) → ‎anstellen (to turn on)
Usage notes
  • Also occurs in many nouns, but these are generally deverbal.
Derived terms
German terms prefixed with an-

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an/, [ʔan]

Prefix

an-

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

Ido

Etymology

From an (at, on).

Prefix

an-

  1. at, on

Derived terms

Ido terms prefixed with an-

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

Alternative forms

  • ana- (form used before consonants in Munster)

Pronunciation

Prefix

an-

  1. (with adjectives, always spelled with a hyphen) very
    Synonyms: fíor-, rí-
  2. (with adjectives) over-, excessively, intensely
  3. (with nouns) great, excessive
Usage notes
  • Triggers lenition (except of d, s, and t):
  • an- + ‎beag → ‎an-bheag (very small)
  • an- + ‎deas → ‎an-deas (very nice)
  • In some dialects (e.g. Aran), it also changes s to ts:
  • an- + ‎saor → ‎an-tsaor (very cheap) (standard form an-saor)
  • In Munster, this form is used only before a vowel; before a consonant the variant ana- is used.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Irish an-, in-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

Alternative forms

  • ain- (used before slender vowels and consonants)

Pronunciation

Prefix

an- (usually spelled without a hyphen)

  1. in-, un-, not
  2. bad, unnatural
Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-).

Prefix

an-

  1. an- (not)
Derived terms
Irish terms prefixed with an- (an-)

Etymology 4

From Old Irish an-, from Proto-Celtic *sani (apart), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Hi.

Prefix

an-

  1. denoting a movement away from some reference point, used to form adverbs of place, for example anuas (from above)
Derived terms
Irish terms prefixed with an- (from)

Mutation

Mutated forms of an-
radical eclipsis with h-prothesis with t-prothesis
an- n-an- han- t-an-

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

Italian

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of a- indicating lack or loss

Derived terms

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From the preposition an, from Proto-Germanic *in. Compare German ein-, English in-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an/, [ɑn]

Prefix

an-

  1. in- (indicates physical or metaphorical motion into something)

Usage notes

  • When attached to a verb stem beginning with a consonant sound other than /d/, /h/, /n/, /t/ or /t͡s/, the prefix becomes a- as a result of the Eifeler Regel.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Malagasy

Prefix

an-

  1. prefix element of an- -ana

See also

Middle English

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of en-

Middle Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

Prefix

an-

  1. un-, not

Derived terms

Middle Welsh terms prefixed with an-

Descendants

  • Welsh: an-, af-

Old English

Alternative forms

  • ǣn-

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *aina-, from Proto-Germanic *aina- (one, uni-), equivalent to Old English ān (one).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɑːn/

Prefix

ān-

  1. one; mono-, uni-
    ān- + -hende (handed)ānhende (one-handed)
    ān- + horn (horn)ānhorn (unicorn)
    ān- + -īeġe (-eyed)ānīeġe (one-eyed)
    ān- + -mōd (-minded)ānmōd (unanimous)
    ān- + -nes (-ness)ānnes (unity)
    ān- + wīġ (battle)ānwīġ (duel)
    ān- + -wille (-willed)ānwille (stubborn)
    ān- + -wintre (years old)ānwintre (one year old)
  2. lone, alone
    ān- + *genġa (walker)āngenġa (loner)
    ān- + *setla (settler)ānsetla (hermit)

Old French

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of en-

Usage notes

Old Irish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

Alternative forms

Prefix

an-

  1. un-, not
  2. bad
Derived terms
Old Irish terms prefixed with an- (un-)
Descendants
  • Irish: an-
  • Scottish Gaelic: an-

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Maybe related to Welsh en- and Gaulish ande- in proper names Andecarus (literally very dear) and Anderoudus (literally very red).[1] Considered the same word as an- (un-) by DIL (see Further reading).

Prefix

an-

  1. very
Derived terms
Old Irish terms prefixed with an- (very)
Descendants
  • Irish: an-
  • Scottish Gaelic: an-

Etymology 3

From Proto-Celtic *sani (apart), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Hi,[2] whence also Latin sine (without).[3][4]

Prefix

an-

  1. denoting a movement away from some reference point, used to form adverbs of place, for example anúas (from above)
Derived terms
Old Irish terms prefixed with an- (from)
  • anair (from the front)
  • anall (from beyond)
  • andess (from the right)
  • anechtar (from outside)
  • aníar (from the back)
  • aníos (from below)
  • antúaid (from the left)
  • can (from where?)
  • dano (then)
Descendants
  • Irish: an-
  • Scottish Gaelic: an-

References

  1. ^ Vendryes, Joseph (1959) “an-, particule intensive”, in Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien [Etymological lexicon of Old Irish] (in French), volume A, Dublin, Paris: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, page A-70
  2. ^ Hamp, Eric (1982) “Ad ZCP 37, 170-73”, in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, volume 39, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 219
  3. ^ Hamp, Eric (1986) “Varia II”, in Ériu, volume 37, Royal Irish Academy, →ISSN, →JSTOR, pages 183–184
  4. ^ Schumacher, Stefan (2022) “The Development of Proto-Celtic *au in British Celtic”, in Simon Rodway, Jenny Rowland, and Erich Poppe, editors, Celts, Gaels, and Britons: Studies in Language and Literature from Antiquity to the Middle Ages in Honour of Patrick Sims-Williams (Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe), Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, →ISBN

Further reading

Pali

Alternative forms

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of a- used before words beginning with vowels

Derived terms

Pali terms prefixed with an-

References

  • Pali Text Society (1921–1925) “an-”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

Pipil

Pronunciation

  • (Standard) IPA(key): /an/

Prefix

an-

  1. (personal) you, second-person plural subject marker.
    Antekitit tik ne mil?
    Do you work at the cornfield?

Usage notes

  • Before a vowel, an- changes to anh-. The digraph ⟨nh⟩ is pronounced as [ŋ]. Example:
Anhajsiket peyna.
You came early.

See also

Pipil verb subject markers
singular plural
1st person ni- ti-
2nd person ti- (shi-) an- (shi-)
3rd person - -

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

Prefix

an-

  1. alternative form of a-

Derived terms

Further reading

  • an- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian an-, from Proto-West Germanic *ana-. Cognates include West Frisian oan- and German an-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an-/

Prefix

an-

  1. combining form of an

Derived terms

Saterland Frisian terms prefixed with an-

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Irish an-.

Prefix

an-

  1. un-, anti-
  2. bad, unnatural

Derived terms

Prefix

an-

  1. Used to emphasise the root.

Derived terms

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /an/ [ãn]
  • Syllabification: an-

Prefix

an-

  1. an-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with an-

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

From the Old Swedish and- meaning “against/towards”.

Prefix

an-

  1. against, towards

Derived terms

Anagrams

Umbrian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Italic *ana-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-.

Prefix

an- (late Iguvine)

  1. alternative form of 𐌀𐌍- (an-)
Derived terms
Umbrian terms prefixed with an- (upon)

Etymology 2

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

    Prefix

    an- (early Iguvine)

    1. alternative form of 𐌀- (a-)
    Derived terms
    Umbrian terms prefixed with an- (un-)

    References

    • 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[1], 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, pages 36-37

    Welsh

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /an/

    Etymology 1

    From Middle Welsh an-, from Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.[1] Cognate with Cornish an-.

    Prefix

    an-

    1. not, un-, non-, , dis-, negative prefix
      Synonym: (used before gl, ll, rh, and consonantal i) af-
      an- + ‎parch (respect) → ‎amarch (disrespect)
      an- + ‎prisiadwy (valuable) → ‎amhrisiadwy (invaluable)
      an- + ‎teg (fair) → ‎annheg (unfair)
      an- + ‎cofio (to remember) → ‎anghofio (to forget)
      an- + ‎diwedd (end) → ‎anniwedd (endless)
      an- + ‎gwybod (to know) → ‎anwybod (ignorance)
      an- + ‎mantais (advantage) → ‎anfantais (disadvantage)
    Usage notes

    Triggers the nasal mutation of p, t, c and d, sometimes with accompanying euphonic or orthographic adjustments, and the soft mutation of b, g and m.

    Etymology 2

    From Proto-Celtic *ande-, *ando- (inside).

    Prefix

    an- (not productive)

    1. intensive prefix
    2. in-, inside, inward
    Derived terms
    Welsh terms prefixed with an-

    Mutation

    Mutated forms of an-
    radical soft nasal h-prothesis
    an- unchanged unchanged han-

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Further reading

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

    References

    1. ^ Morris Jones, John (1913) A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative, Oxford: Clarendon Press, § 156 i 5

    Ye'kwana

    Variant orthographies
    ALIV an-
    Brazilian standard an-
    New Tribes an-

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [aŋ-]

    Prefix

    an-

    1. allomorph of ön- (negative/sociative irrealis prefix) used for stems that begin with a or e