"A" Word Origins

A

Latin

Descended from the Old English letter A, itself adapted from Latin, ultimately going back to the Phoenician letter aleph.

aa

Origin

Borrowed from Hawaiian ʻaʻā, describing this rough type of solidified lava.

aagh

Origin

An imitative (onomatopoeic) word formed to represent the sound people make when startled or frustrated.

aaliyah

Origin

Popularized by American singer Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001). Transliteration of Arabic عَالِيَة (ʕāliya).

Aarav

Hindi

A transliteration of the Hindi word आरव (ārav), meaning "sound" or "loud noise".

aardvark

Dutch

From Afrikaans aardvark, literally "earth pig" — from aarde ("earth") and vark ("pig") — because Dutch settlers in South Africa thought the burrowing animal resembled a pig.

aaren

Origin

Rare spelling variant of Aaron, also used for women since the end of the 20th century.

Aaron

Latin

From Hebrew אַהֲרֹן (ʾAhărōn) via Greek and Latin; the original meaning is uncertain, though it has been linked to ideas like "exalted" or "mountain of strength".

aaronson

Origin

From Aaron + -son.

aarti

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Hindi आरती (ārtī), from Sanskrit आरात्रिक (ārātrika).

Aaru

Origin

From the ancient Egyptian jꜣrw ("reeds"), part of the phrase sḫt-jꜣrw, "field of reeds".

ab

Origin

Shortened from words such as "abdominal" or "abscess", depending on the sense.

aba

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic عَبَاءَة (ʕabāʔa); related to the word "abaya".

abaca

Origin

From Spanish abacá, from Tagalog abaka.

abaciscus

Origin

From New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀβακίσκος (abakískos, “a coloured stone for laying mosaic”), diminutive of ἄβαξ (ábax, “board”). See abacus.

abacist

Origin

From Middle English abaciste, from Medieval Latin abacista, from abacus + -ista (“-ist”).

aback

Old English

From Old English onbæc, literally "on back" — the sense of being pushed backward by surprise.

abaculus

Origin

From Latin abaculus, diminutive of abacus.

abacus

Ancient Greek

From Latin abacus, from Ancient Greek ábax, meaning a slab or board covered in sand for drawing or counting.

abada

Origin

From Portuguese abada (“female rhinoceros”), from Malay badak (“rhinoceros”).

Abaddon

Hebrew

From Biblical Hebrew אֲבַדּוֹן (ʾăḇaddōn), meaning "destruction" or "ruin", from the verb ʾāḇaḏ, "to perish".

abaft

Origin

From Middle English obaft, baft, baften, from Old English beæftan; be (“by”) (modern English by) + æftan (“behind”) (modern English after). See also aft.

abalienate

Origin

From Latin abaliēnātus, perfect passive participle of abaliēnō (“alienate; remove”); from ab- (“by, from; away”) + aliēnō (“alienate, estrange”); from aliēnus (“foreign, alien”), from alius (“other, another”). Equivalent to ab- + alienate.

abalone

Spanish

From American Spanish abulón, itself from an Indigenous California language, referring to the red abalone found along that coast.

abandon

Old French

From Old French abandoner, built from a ("to") and bandon ("control, jurisdiction"), so originally "to hand over to someone else's control" — which shifted to mean giving something up entirely.

abandoned

Middle English

From Middle English abandoned, equivalent to abandon + -ed.

abandonment

French

From French abandonnement, from abandonner ("to abandon"), ultimately from the same root as English "abandon".

abase

Origin

From Late Middle English abaishen, abashen, abaisse, abassen, abesse, abessen (“to be upset; to embarrass; to surprise; to confound; to bend down, stoop; to abase, degrade, disgrace”), from Middle French abaisser, from Old French abaissier, abessier (“to prostrate oneself; to lower, reduce”) (also compare Old French esbahir (“to amaze”), Vulgar Latin abbassiāre (“to lower”)), from a- (prefix indicating movement towards something) (from Latin ad (“toward, to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“at, to”)) + baissier (“to lower”) (from Medieval Latin bassus (“short of stature, low; base”), possibly from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs, “foot; base, foundation”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)). The spelling of the English word has been influenced by base, thus ostensibly analyzable as a- (“towards”) + base. There exist verb cognates in Gallo-Romance languages such as Catalan abaixar (“lower; abase”) and Occitan abaissar, and similar word construction in other romance languages as Spanish abajo (“down, downstairs; below”).

abased

Origin

From abase + -ed.

abasement

Origin

From Middle English abaissement, from Middle French abaissement (“astonishment”). Equivalent to abase + -ment. Compare French abaissement.

abash

Origin

Attested from 1303, as Middle English abaisen, abaishen, abashen (“lose one's composure, be upset”), from the later 14th-century also transitive "to make ashamed, to perplex or embarrass"; from Anglo-Norman abaïss, from Middle French abair, abaisser (“lose one's composure, be startled, be stunned”), from Old French esbaïr, (French ébahir), from es- (“utterly”) + baïr (“to astonish”), from Medieval Latin *exbadō, from ex- (“out of”) + bado (“to gape, yawn”), an onomatopoeic word imitating a yawn, see also French badaud (“rubbernecker”).

abate

Old French

From Old French abatre, "to beat down" — the same root as "batter."

abatement

Old French

From Old French abatre 'to beat down, put an end to', from Latin ad- 'to' + battuere 'to beat'.

abattoir

French

From French abattoir, from abattre ("to slaughter" or "knock down") — the same root that gives English "abate".

abba

Latin

From Aramaic אבא (ʼabbā), meaning "father", carried into English through Greek and Latin religious texts.

abbacy

Origin

From Middle English abbathie, from Late Latin abbātia, from abbās, abbātis (“abbot”). Doublet of abbey and Opatija.

Abbas

Arabic

From Arabic عَبَّاس (ʕabbās), roughly "one who frowns often" or "stern lion", from عَبَسَ (ʕabasa), "to frown".

abbatial

Origin

Inherited from Middle English abbacyal, derived from Middle French abbatial, derived from Late Latin abbātiāl|is, ~e, from abbā|s, ~tis (“abbot”) + -āl|is, ~e (“-ial”). Doublet of abbot.

abbee

Origin

Shortening.

abbess

Late Latin

From Old French abeesse, from Late Latin abbatissa, the feminine form of abbas ("abbot").

abbey

Late Latin

From Old French abaïe, from Late Latin abbātia, ultimately from Latin abbās ("abbot").

Abbi

Origin

Shortened form of Abigail.

abbot

Latin

From Old English abbod, from Latin abbās ("father"), from Greek abbâs, from Aramaic ʼabbā ("father").

Abbott

Origin

An occupational surname referring to service under an abbot; a variant spelling of "Abbot".

abbreviate

Origin

From Middle English abbreviaten, from abbreviat(e) (“abbreviated”, used as the participle of abbreviaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“to shorten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), formed from ab- + breviō (“to shorten”), from brevis (“short”). Alternatively, a back-formation from abbreviation. Doublet of abridge.

abbreviation

Latin

From Middle French abreviation, from Ecclesiastical Latin abbreviātiō, from Latin brevis ("short").

abbreviature

Origin

From Medieval Latin abbreviātūra, from Late Latin abbreviō (“shorten, abbreviate”). See also abbreviate.

Abbs

Origin

A patronymic surname from a shortened form of "Abel".