"A" Word Origins

anatomy

Greek

From Greek anatome, "dissection," literally "cutting up" — from ana- ("up") plus temno ("to cut").

Anbu

Origin

From Mandarin 庵埠 /菴埠 (Ānbù).

ancestor

Latin

From Old French ancestre, from Latin antecessor, "one who goes before" — from ante ("before") + cedere ("to go").

ancestral

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman ancestrel, built on ancestre ("ancestor") plus the adjective ending -al.

ancestry

Old French

From Middle English auncestrie, from Old French ancesserie, ultimately from the same root as ancestor.

anchor

Ancient Greek

From Old English ancor, borrowed from Latin ancora, itself from Ancient Greek ankura.

anchorage

Origin

Formed from anchor plus the suffix -age, indicating a place or fee associated with anchoring.

anchoress

Origin

From Middle English ankres, ankerisse, anchoryse; equivalent to anchor + -ess.

anchorman

Origin

From anchor + man, extended from the literal sense of the person who holds the anchor position — steady and reliable.

anchorperson

Origin

From anchor + person, by analogy with anchorman.

anchorwoman

Origin

From anchor(man) + -woman.

anchovy

Spanish

Via Spanish anchoa and Ligurian anciôa; the ultimate root is uncertain, possibly Basque for "dried fish."

ancient

Vulgar Latin

From Old French ancien, from Vulgar Latin anteanus, built from ante ("before").

ancillary

Latin

From Latin ancillaris, from ancilla 'maidservant'.

and

Old English

From Old English and, ond, going back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning roughly "facing, in addition."

Anda

Origin

Borrowed from Basque Anda.

Andalusia

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin Andalusia, from Arabic الْأَنْدَلُس (al-ʔandalus).

Anders

Norwegian

Borrowed from Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish Anders.

Andersen

Norwegian

From Danish or Norwegian Andersen, a patronymic from Anders + -sen.

Anderson

Middle English

From Middle English Ander ("Andrew") + -son, after Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland.

Andersson

Swedish

Borrowed from Swedish Andersson.

Anderton

Old English

From Old English Eanred + tun, meaning "Eanred's town".

Andes

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Andes, possibly traceable to the Quechua word anti, meaning "east."

Andhra

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit आन्ध्र (āndhra).

andiron

Origin

From Middle English aundire, aundiren, from Old French andier (possibly from Gaulish anderon (“heifer”)) compare Welsh anner, annair (“heifer”), Breton annoar (“heifer”), from Proto-Celtic *anderā (“young woman”), due either to their somewhat animal-like appearance of four legs or to the prominent figuring of bull and heifer design elements; compare its alternative names of fire-dog and dog-iron. Spelling influenced by iron.

Ando

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 安藤 (Andō).

Andrade

Origin

From Galician Andrade.

Andrea

Latin

A Latinate feminine form of Andreas and Andrew.

Andreas

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Ἀνδρέᾱς (Andréās), cognate with ἀνδρεῖος (andreîos, "manly"); a doublet of Andrew.

Andres

Spanish

Patronymic surname, borrowed from Spanish Andrés.

Andrew

Greek

From the Greek "Andreas", derived from "andros", meaning "man".

Andrey

Russian

From Russian Андре́й (Andréj, “Andrew”). Doublet of Andrew.

androgyne

Origin

From French androgyne, from Latin androgynus.

androgynous

Greek

From Greek anēr, andr- 'man' and gynē 'woman'.

android

New Latin

From New Latin androides, built from Greek andros ("man") plus a suffix meaning "form" or "shape" — literally "man-shaped."

Andromeda

Greek

Named after Andromeda from Greek mythology, the princess rescued by Perseus — the constellation and galaxy are named for her, and the plant genus borrowed the same name later.

Andy

Origin

From the given name Andy, a diminutive of Andrew, generalized into slang for "a guy" or "a type of person."

anecdotalist

Origin

From anecdotal + -ist.

anecdote

French

From French anecdote, ultimately from Greek anekdotos, "unpublished" — originally referring to untold behind-the-scenes stories.

anecumene

Origin

From an- + ecumene.

anele

Origin

From Middle English anelen, anelien, from Middle English an- (“on”) + Middle English elen (“to anoint”), from Old English ēle (“oil”). Compare English anoil.

anemia

Greek

From Greek anaimia, from an- ("without") + haima ("blood").

anemic

Origin

Formed from anemia plus the adjective ending -ic.

anemone

Greek

From Greek anemone, built from anemos ("wind") — hence the old nickname "windflower."

anent

Origin

From Middle English anent, anentes, anempt (“insofar as, inasmuch as, in comparison with, with respect to, as regards, concerning, in the opinion or judgment of; next to, close to, up to, near, adjoining, across from, over against, facing”), from Old English on efn (“by; near”), from on + efn. Compare Dutch neven, German neben.

anergy

Origin

From New Latin anergia, from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, “not, without”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”).

anesthesia

Greek

From Greek an- ("without") + aisthesis ("sensation") — literally "no feeling."

anesthesiologist

Origin

Built from anesthesiology + -ist ("one who practices").