释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024an1 /ən; when stressed æn/USA pronunciation indefinite article. - Pronounsthe form of a used before an initial vowel sound:an arch, an honor, an hourly wage.
Sometimes, esp. in British English, an is used before an initial h if the h is silent or weakly pronounced and the syllable is unstressed: "an hisˈtorian''; "an hisˈtoric event''. an-1 ,- prefix. an- is attached to roots or stems beginning with a vowel or h, and means "not;
without; lacking'':anaerobic (= without oxygen); anonymous (= without name).Compare a-2. -an1 ,suffix. -an has the general meaning "of, pertaining to, having qualities of''. - It is used to form adjectives and nouns from names of places or people, with the meanings:
- being connected with a place: Chicago + -an → Chicagoan;
- having membership in a group of: Episcopal + -(i)an → Episcopalian;
- It is used to form adjectives with the meaning "of or like (someone);
supporter or believer of'': Christ + -(i)an → Christian; Freud + -(i)an → Freudian (= supporter of or believer in the theories of Sigmund Freud). - It is used to form nouns from words ending in -ic or -y, with the meaning "one who works with '': electric + -(i)an → electrician;
comedy + -an → comedian.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024an1 (ən; when stressed an),USA pronunciation indefinite article.- Pronounsthe form of a before an initial vowel sound (an arch;
an honor) and sometimes, esp. in British English, before an initial unstressed syllable beginning with a silent or weakly pronounced h:an historian.
- bef. 950; Middle English; Old English ān one in a weakened sense
an2 (ən; when stressed an),USA pronunciation conj. - [Pron. Spelling.]and.
- [Archaic.]if.
Also, an', 'n, 'n'. - Middle English, unstressed phonetic variant of and 1125–75
An (än),USA pronunciation n. - Chemistry, Eastern Religionsthe Sumerian god of heaven: the counterpart of the Akkadian Anu.
an-1 ,- a prefix occurring before stems beginning with a vowel or h in loanwords from Greek, where it means "not,'' "without,'' "lacking'' (anarchy;
anecdote); used in the formation of compound words:anelectric.Also, before a consonant, a-.
- Greek. See a-6, in-3, un-1
an-2 ,- var. of ad- before n: announce.
an-3 ,- var. of ana- before a vowel:anion.
-an ,- a suffix occurring originally in adjectives borrowed from Latin, formed from nouns denoting places (Roman;
urban) or persons (Augustan), and now productively forming English adjectives by extension of the Latin pattern. Attached to geographic names, it denotes provenance or membership (American; Chicagoan; Tibetan), the latter sense now extended to membership in social classes, religious denominations, etc., in adjectives formed from various kinds of noun bases (Episcopalian; pedestrian; Puritan; Republican) and membership in zoological taxa (acanthocephalan; crustacean). Attached to personal names, it has the additional senses "contemporary with'' (Elizabethan; Jacobean) or "proponent of '' (Hegelian; Freudian) the person specified by the noun base. The suffix -an, and its variant -ian, also occurs in a set of personal nouns, mainly loanwords from French, denoting one who engages in, practices, or works with the referent of the base noun (comedian; grammarian; historian; theologian); this usage is esp. productive with nouns ending in -ic (electrician; logician; technician). See -ian for relative distribution with that suffix. Cf. -enne, -ean, -arian, -ician.
- Latin
- Old French
- Latin -ānus, -āna, -ānum; in some words replacing -ain, -en
- Middle English
AN ,- Language VarietiesAnglo-Norman.
Also, A.-N. An ,[Symbol, Chem.]- actinon.
an. ,- in the year.
A.N. ,- Language VarietiesAnglo-Norman.
- Associate in Nursing.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: an /æn; (unstressed) ən/ determiner - a form of the indefinite article used before an initial vowel sound: an old car, an elf, an honour
Etymology: Old English ān oneUSAGE An was formerly often used before words that begin with h and are unstressed on the first syllable: an hotel; an historic meeting. Sometimes the initial h was not pronounced. This usage is now becoming obsolete an, an' /æn; (unstressed) ən/ conj - (subordinating)
an obsolete or dialect word for if See and
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