| 释义 |
▪ I. ap- prefix1
assimilated form of L. ad- ‘to,’ bef. initial p-, as L. ad-proba-, ap-proba-. In OFr. this ad- ap- was, by regular phonetic law, reduced to a- (as in the separate word ad), and in this form the Fr. words were adopted in Eng., as a-part, a-pere, a-ply, a-pose, a-prise, a-prove. In imitation of the Latin forms, the scribes began to double the p in Fr. spelling in 14th c., and in Eng. in 15th, though, in speech, the prefix is still really a- (cf. əˈpɛnd, ˈæplɪkənt). By mistake ap- was also substituted for a- in several words where it had a different origin, as appair, appeach: see ad- prefix 2, a- prefix 10.
▪ II. ap- prefix2
in words of Greek origin, for ἀπ' the shortened form of ἀπό ‘off, away,’ bef. a vowel, as in ἀπ-αγωγή ap-agoge: see apo-.
▪ III. ap-, prefix3
[Welsh ap, from map son, used in pedigrees and a common prefix in surnames, as Apjohn, Aprys; cf. Mac.]
1647Cleveland Char. Lond. Diurn. (1677) 108 It would tire a Welshman to reckon up how many Aps 'tis removed from an Annal. |