an-

See also:Appendix:Variations of "an"

English

Etymology 1

FromMiddle Englishan-,fromOld Englishan-,on-(“on-”),fromProto-West Germanic*ana-,fromProto-Germanic*ana-(“on”).More aton.

Alternative forms

on-,a-

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofon-
ancome,aneal,anent

Etymology 2

FromAncient Greekἀν-(an-).Doublet ofun-andin-.

Prefix

an-

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".
Without,lacking.
anoxia(without oxygen),anandrous(without male parts)

Aromanian

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofãn-

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

am-(when followed by a vowel or a consonant which islabial)

Prefix

an-

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

Cornish

Prefix

an-

un-,non-

Derived terms

Cornish terms prefixed with an-

anlaghel

References

Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF)(in Cornish),2018,published2018,page11

Dutch

Etymology

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-)(ἀν-(an-)immediately preceding a vowel).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/ɑn/
Audio: (file)

Prefix

an-

an-:Not,without, opposite of

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with an-

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/an‿/

Prefix

an-

in-,an-.Alternative form ofa-before a vowel or h

Derived terms

German

Etymology 1

From the prepositionan,fromMiddle High Germanan(e),fromProto-West Germanic*ana,fromProto-Germanic*ana.CompareDutchaan-,Englishon-.

Pronunciation

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

Prefix

an-(seperable verb prefix)

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”)
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”)
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”)
on,in use
Antonym:aus-

‎an-+ ‎stellen(“to put”)→ ‎anstellen(“to turn on”)

Usage notes

Also occurs in many nouns, but these are generallydeverbal.

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with an-

Etymology 2

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-)(ἀν-(an-)immediately preceding a vowel), fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-(“un-, not”),zero-gradeform of*ne(“not”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/an/,[ʔan]

Prefix

an-

forming words with the sense of negation,an-

Ido

Etymology

Froman(“at, on”).

Prefix

an-

at,on

Derived terms

Ido terms prefixed with an-

ankayeskar

Irish

Etymology 1

FromOld Irishan-,fromProto-Celtic*an-,fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.

Alternative forms

ana-(form used before consonants in Munster)

Pronunciation

(Munster)IPA^(key):/ˈɑn̪ˠ/
(Aran)IPA^(key):/ˈɑːn/
(Connemara,Ulster)IPA^(key):/ˈan̪ˠ/

Prefix

an-

(with adjectives,always spelled with a hyphen)very
Synonyms:fíor-,rí-
(with adjectives)over-,excessively,intensely
(with nouns)great,excessive

Usage notes

Triggerslenition(except ofd,s,andt):

‎an-+ ‎beag→ ‎an-bheag(“very small”)
‎an-+ ‎deas→ ‎an-deas(“very nice”)

In some dialects (e.g. Aran), it also changesstots:

‎an-+ ‎saor→ ‎an-tsaor(“very cheap”)(standard forman-saor)

In Munster, this form is used only before a vowel; before a consonant the variantana-is used.

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with an- (excessively)

Etymology 2

FromOld Irishan-,in-,fromProto-Celtic*an-,fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.

Alternative forms

ain-(used before slender vowels and consonants)

Pronunciation

(Munster)IPA^(key):/ˈɑn̪ˠ/
(Aran)IPA^(key):/ˈɑn/
(Connemara,Ulster)IPA^(key):/ˈan̪ˠ/

Prefix

an-(usually spelled without a hyphen)

in-,un-,not
bad,unnatural

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with an- (un-)

Etymology 3

FromAncient Greekἀν-(an-).

Prefix

an-

an-(not)

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with an- (an-)

ainhidríd

ainhiodráis

ainhidriúil

Mutation

Mutated formsofan-
radical	eclipsis	withh-prothesis	witht-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.

Italian

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofa-indicating lack or loss

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with an-

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From the prepositionan,fromProto-Germanic*in.CompareGermanein-,Englishin-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/an/,[ɑn]

Prefix

an-

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 becomesa-as a result of theEifeler Regel.

Antonyms

aus-

Derived terms

Malagasy

Prefix

an-

prefix element ofan- -ana

Middle English

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofen-

Middle Welsh

Etymology

FromProto-Brythonic*an-,fromProto-Celtic*an-,fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.

Prefix

an-

un-,not

Derived terms

Middle Welsh terms prefixed with an-

Descendants

Welsh:an-,af-

Old English

Alternative forms

ǣn-

Etymology

FromProto-West Germanic*aina-,fromProto-Germanic*aina-(“one, uni-”),equivalent to Old Englishān(“one”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/ɑːn/

Prefix

ān-

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”)
lone,alone
ān-+*genġa(“walker”)→āngenġa(“loner”)

ān-+*setla(“settler”)→ānsetla(“hermit”)

Related terms

nān-

Old French

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofen-

Usage notes

Particularly common in the works ofChrétien de Troyes.

Old Irish

Etymology 1

FromProto-Celtic*an-,fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.

Alternative forms

am-,é-,in-

Prefix

an-

un-,not
bad

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with an- (un-)

Descendants

Irish:an-
Scottish Gaelic:an-

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Maybe related to Welshen-and Gaulishande-in proper namesAndecarus(literally“very dear”)andAnderoudus(literally“very red”).^[1]Considered the same word asan-(“un-”)byDIL(see Further reading).

Prefix

an-

very

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with an- (very)

aingel

Descendants

Irish:an-
Scottish Gaelic:an-

Etymology 3

Unknown.^[2]

Prefix

an-

denoting a movement away from some reference point, used to form adverbs of place,for exampleanúas(“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”)

Related terms

s-
t-

Descendants

Irish:an-
Scottish Gaelic:an-

References

^Vendryes, Joseph (1959) “an-,particule intensive”, inLexique 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, pageA-70
^Vendryes, Joseph (1959) “an-,particule servant a marquer le point de départ d'un mouvement”, inLexique 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, pageA-70f

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

𑀅𑀦𑁆-(Brahmi script)
अन्-(Devanagari script)
অন্-(Bengali script)
අන්-(Sinhalese script)
အန်-orဢၼ်-(Burmese script)
อนฺ-orอัน-(Thai script)
ᩋᨶ᩺-(Tai Tham script)
ອນ຺-orອັນ-(Lao script)
អន៑-(Khmer script)
𑄃𑄚𑄴-(Chakma script)

Prefix

an-

Alternative form ofa-used before words beginning with vowels

Derived terms

Pali terms prefixed with an-

References

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

Pipil

Pronunciation

(Standard)IPA^(key):/an/

Prefix

an-

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

Usage notes

Before a vowel,an-changes toanh-.The digraph ⟨nh⟩ is pronounced as[ŋ].Example:

Anhajsiket peyna.

Youcame early.

Polish

Alternative forms

a-

Etymology

Learned borrowingfromAncient Greekἀν-(an-).

Pronunciation

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

Prefix

an-

forming words with the sense of negation,an-

Derived terms

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

FromOld Frisianan-,fromProto-West Germanic*ana-.Cognates includeWest Frisianoan-andGermanan-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/an-/

Prefix

an-

Combining formofan

Derived terms

Saterland Frisian terms prefixed with an-

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

ana-,ain-

Etymology

FromOld Irishan-.

Prefix

an-

un-,anti-
bad,unnatural

Derived terms

an-fhoiseil

Related terms

Prefix

an-

Used toemphasisetheroot.

Derived terms

an-mhòr

Spanish

Prefix

an-

an-

Derived terms

Spanish terms prefixed with an-

Swedish

Etymology

From theOld Swedishand-meaning “against/towards”.

Prefix

an-

against,towards

Derived terms

Swedish terms prefixed with an-

Anagrams

-na,na

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/an/

Etymology 1

FromMiddle Welshan-,fromProto-Brythonic*an-,fromProto-Celtic*an-,fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.^[1]Cognate withCornishan-.

Prefix

an-

not,un-,non-,an-,dis-,negative prefix
Synonym:(used beforegl,ll,rh,and consonantali)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”)