From theAncient Greekἀ-(a-,“not, without”).

a-

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

FromMiddle Englisha-(“up, out, away”), fromOld Englishā-, originally*ar-,*or-, fromProto-West Germanic*uʀ-, fromProto-Germanic*uz-(“out-”), fromProto-Indo-European*uds-(“up, out”). Cognate withOld Saxona-,Germaner-.

• IPA^(key):/ə/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

a-

2. (no longerproductive)Forming verbs with the senseaway,up,on,out.

   arise,await

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

   abide,amaze

• FromMiddle Englisha-(“on”), derived from unstressedMiddle Englishan(“on”), fromOld Englishan(“on”).
• Seea(preposition, on, to, in, etc.)

• IPA^(key):/ə/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

a-

2. (rare or no longerproductive)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 longerproductive) In, into. Also passing into sense 5.[First attested prior to 1150]^[1]

   asunder

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

   astern,abeam

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

   Comea-morning we are going hunting.

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

    hitsa-poppin

    doinsa-transpirin[doingsa-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 lordsa-leaping,

      …

      Eight maidsa-milking,

      Seven swansa-swimming,

      Six geesea-laying,

    • circa1850,Here We Come A-wassailing/Here We Come A-caroling

      Here we comea-wassailing

      Among the leaves so green;

      Here we comea-wand’ring

      So fair to be seen.

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

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

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

      The hay isa-cutting now. You'rea-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 area-changin'

    • circa1970, bumper sticker:^[3]

      If the van’sa-rockin’, don’t comea-knockin’.

Adjectives formed with this prefix are often restricted topredicative use, owing to their origin asprepositional phrases with the preposition "on." For example, one may say "the ship isafire," but not "theafire ship," just as one may say "the ship ison fire," but not "theon fire ship."

FromMiddle Englisha-, a variant form ofy-, fromOld Englishġe-, fromProto-West Germanic*ga-, fromProto-Germanic*ga-, fromProto-Indo-European*ḱóm(“with”).

• i-

• IPA^(key):/ə/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

a-

2. Alternative form ofy-(archaic anddialectal)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 havea-gone.

   I havea-seen a bird.

FromAnglo-Normana-, fromOld Frenche-, fromLatinex-.

• IPA^(key):/ə/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

a-

2. (no longerproductive)Forming words with the sense ofwholly, orutterlyout.[First attested from around 1150 to 1350.]^[1]

   abash

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-) (ἀν-(an-) immediately followed by a vowel).

• (US,UK)IPA^(key):/eɪ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• (Philippines)IPA^(key):/ə/,/a/(not inatheist)

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 asa-zoölogical improbabilities [...].

   • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala,The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published2013, page191:

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

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

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

FromMiddle Englisha-, fromMiddle Frencha-, fromLatinad(“towards”).

a-

2. (no longerproductive) 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 withsc,sp, orst, and also used on stems with a French origin.
• Used in place ofad-.^[5]

FromLatinab(“of, off, from, away”).

a-

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

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

• Variation of the prefixab-, only used when the stem starts with the letterp orv,^[4] or (rarely)s in which case thes is doubled (as inassoil andassoilzie).

FromMiddle Englisha-,o-(“of”). Seea(preposition, of).

a-

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

   anew,afresh,athirst^[4]

Different Germanic and Latinate senses ofa- 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 thesea- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultanta- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical,euphonic [nice-sounding], or even archaic, and whollyotiose [pointless].” OED.

• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “a-”, inThe 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-”, inThe 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-”, inOnline Etymology Dictionary.

a-

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

   A-tisketa-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 choilta-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

a-

1. positive active verbalfirst-person singular concord

   Akwi ―I wore

Borrowed fromAncient Greekἀ-(a-).

a-

1. a-(not, without)

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

FromLatinad(“towards”).

a-

1. used to make verbs from adjectives and nouns

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

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

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

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-,“not, without”), fromProto-Hellenic*ə-(“un-, not; without, lacking”), fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-(“not, un-”).Doublet ofu-.

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

a-

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

   Synonyms:atom-,A-

• an-

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

• IPA^(key):/aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

a-

1. a-:not, without, opposite of

• an-

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-).

a-

1. without,-less

• mal-,ne-,sen-

Internationalism (seeEnglisha-), ultimately fromAncient Greekἀ-(a-).

• IPA^(key):/ˈɑ-/,[ˈɑ̝-]

a-

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

   Synonym:epä-

Inherited fromLatinad-.

a-(ORB)

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

• IPA^(key):/a/

Inherited fromOld Frencha-, fromLatinad-.

a-

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

FromAncient Greekἀ-(a-) (ἀν-(an-) immediately preceding a vowel; generalized from the many Latin borrowings using this prefix.

a-

1. a-,non-,-less

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

• IPA^(key):/a/

a-

2. marks thefirst-personsingularsubject on averb

   ‎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 prefixa-, see page 23, section "5.1.1 Subject Marking".

FromOld Galician-Portuguesea-, fromLatinad-.

a-

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

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

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

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

Borrowed fromAncient Greekἀ-(a-), fromProto-Indo-European*n̥-.

a-

1. a-(not; without)

   Synonym:in-