"A" Word Origins

adventurously

Origin

From Middle English auntreousliche, equivalent to adventurous + -ly.

adverb

Latin

From Latin "adverbium," from "ad-" (to) plus "verbum" (word or verb) — literally a word added to a verb.

adversarial

Origin

Probably from adversary + -al

adversary

Latin

From Old French aversaire, from Latin adversārius, built on adversus, "turned against."

adverse

Latin

From Old French avers, from Latin adversus, "turned against" — from ad- ("to") plus vertere ("to turn").

adversity

Latin

From Old French adversité, from Latin adversitās, based on adversus, "turned against."

advert

Origin

A shortened form of advertisement.

advertent

Origin

Apparently a back-formation from inadvertent, or a learned borrowing from Latin advertent-, advertens, present participle of advertere, from the verb adverto (“to give or draw attention to”)

advertise

Old French

From Middle English advertisen, from Old French avertir, "to warn" or "give notice," later reshaped to match advertisement.

advertisement

Middle French

From Middle French advertissement, "statement calling attention," related to advertise.

advertising

Origin

From advertise plus the ending -ing.

advice

Old French

From Old French avis, from a phrase meaning "it is to my view" — the "d" was added later by mistaken association with words like "advance."

advisable

Origin

From advise plus the ending -able.

advise

Latin

From Old French aviser, ultimately linked to Latin vīsus, "sight" — the same root behind advice.

advisement

Old French

From Old French avisement, related to advise.

advisor

Origin

From advise plus the agent ending -or.

advisory

Origin

From advise plus the ending -ory.

advocacy

Middle French

From Middle French advocacie, ultimately linked to advocate.

advocate

Latin

From Latin advocātus, "one called to help," related to advocāre, "to call for" — a calque of the Greek term behind English "paraclete."

advowrer

Origin

From advowry, variant of avowry, + -er. Compare Middle English avouer (“patron, protector”), from avowen (“avow”), and avouwe, avowe (“patron, protector”), from Old French avoue.

adynaton

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin adynaton (“impossibility; adynaton”), or directly from its etymon Ancient Greek ἀδύνατον (adúnaton, “an impossibility; impracticality”), substantivized neuter singular of ἀδύνατος (adúnatos, “unable; that cannot be done, impossible”) + -ον (-on, suffix forming nouns). The word ἀδύνατος is derived from ἀ- (a-, the alpha privative, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached) + δῠνᾰτός (dŭnătós, “mighty, strong; possible, practical”) (from δῠ́νᾰμαι (dŭ́nămai, “to be able, capable; it can be, it is possible”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to fit”)) + -τος (-tos, suffix forming verbal adjectives of possibility)).

Ae

Old Norse

Probably from Old Norse á, meaning "water" or "river."

Aegean

Ancient Greek

From Latin aegaeus, from Ancient Greek Αἰγαῖος, possibly connected to a word for "waves."

aegidius

Origin

From Late Latin Aegīdius, from Ancient Greek Αἰγιδιός (Aigidiós, “kid skin”) (sometimes interpreted as “the protecting”).

aegis

Latin

From Latin aegis, from Greek αἰγίς, originally the mythological shield of Zeus and Athena, made of goatskin and linked to the Greek word for "goat."

aereous

Origin

From Latin aer + -ous.

aerial

Ancient Greek

From Latin āerius, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ, "air," plus the ending -ial.

aero

Origin

Back-formation from aero- (prefix), from Ancient Greek ἀέρος (aéros).

aerobatics

Origin

Blend of aeronautic + acrobatics.

aerobic

Greek

From Greek aēr 'air' + bios 'life', with the adjective ending -ic.

aerobics

Latin

From aerobic (relating to oxygen use in exercise) plus -s, ultimately from Greek ἀήρ ("air") and βίος ("life").

aerodynamic

Greek

From aero- ("air") plus dynamic, tracing back to Greek ἀήρ and δύναμις ("power").

aerodynamics

Origin

From aero- plus dynamics, following the pattern of aerodynamic.

aerogenerator

Origin

From aero- + generator.

aeronaut

Origin

From aero- + -naut, from the French aéronaute; compare the Italian aeronauta.

aeronautics

French

From French aéronautique, built from aero- ("air") plus -naut ("sailor," as in astronaut) plus -ics.

aeroplane

French · 1855

Borrowed from French aéroplane, from Greek ἀήρ ("air") plus πλάνος ("wandering"). The term was first used in an 1855 patent.

aerosol

Origin

From aero- ("air") plus sol, short for "solution," describing particles dispersed in gas.

aerospace

Origin

A blend of aero- ("air") and space.

aerospatial

Origin

From aero- + spatial.

aesculapian

Origin

From Aesculapius + -ian.

aesthetic

French

From Greek aisthētikos, "of sense perception," via German Ästhetik or French esthétique — the same root that gives us "anaesthetic" (removing sensation).

aesthetically

Origin

Formed from aesthetic plus the adverb ending -ally.

aesthetics

Origin

From aesthetic plus the noun-forming ending -ics, on the model of words like "physics" or "ethics."

aestuous

Origin

From Latin aestuōsus (“excessively hot, having a high body temperature, tumult, rage, passion”).

Aether

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek aithēr, "the upper air" — a doublet of the more familiar word "ether."

Af

Origin

Clipped from "African."

AFAB

English

An acronym of assigned female at birth.