"A" Word Origins

antediluvian

Origin

PIE word *dwís From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from the great flood, which is related in Genesis 6–9 of the Bible. Dīluvium is derived from dīluō (“to wash away”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder, in two’) + lavō (“to wash”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”))) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analyzable as ante- + diluvian. Adjective sense 2 (“long extinct”) is from the fact that such animals and plants were originally believed to have perished in the biblical flood referred to above.

antelope

Medieval Latin

Traced back through Old French and Medieval Latin to a Byzantine Greek word of uncertain origin, originally describing a fierce mythical horned beast before it settled on the real animal.

antemortem

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin ante mortem (“before death”).

antenarratology

Origin

From ante- + narratology.

antenatal

Origin

From Latin ante (“before”) + nātālis (“natal”), from nāscor (“to be born”), equivalent to ante- + natal.

antenna

Latin

From Latin antenna, originally the name for a ship's sail-yard (the pole a sail hangs from) — the insect feeler and the radio device were both later compared to that slender pole.

antepartum

Origin

1908, from Latin ante- (“before”) + partum (“giving birth”).

anterior

Latin

Borrowed from Latin anterior, "that which is before" — the comparative form of ante, "before."

anteriority

Origin

From Middle French antériorité, from Late Latin anteriōritās, corresponding to anterior + -ity.

anterograde

Origin

From antero- + -grade (“direction”) from Latin gradus (“pace, step”).

anteroom

Origin

From ante- + room, as a calque of French antichambre or its model Italian anticamera.

Anthea

Greek

From Greek anthē, "blossom" — it was also used as an epithet of the goddess Hera.

anthem

Latin

Traces back through Old English and Old French to Latin antiphona, from Greek antiphōna, "sounds in response" — originally music sung back and forth between two choir groups.

anthesis

Origin

Ancient Greek ἄνθησις (ánthēsis, “flowering”), from ἀνθέω (anthéō), from ἄνθος (ánthos).

anthill

Old English

A simple compound of ant and hill, going back to Old English forms of the same two words.

anthology

Greek

From Greek anthologia 'a gathering of flowers', from anthos 'flower' and -logia 'collection'.

Anthony

Latin

From the Latin family name Antonius; the "h" was added later by mistaken association with a Greek word for "flower," though the name itself is probably Etruscan in origin.

anthrax

Greek

From Greek anthrax, "coal" or "boil" — a reference to the dark, coal-like skin sores the disease can cause.

anthropoid

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής (anthrōpoeidḗs). By surface analysis, anthrop- + -oid.

anthropological

Origin

Formed from anthropology plus the adjective ending -ical.

anthropologist

Origin

Formed from anthropology plus the "-ist" ending, marking a person who practises it.

anthropology

Greek

From Greek anthrōpos ("human being") plus -logia ("study of") — literally "the study of humankind."

anthropomorphic

Greek

From Greek anthrōpos 'human being' + morphē 'form, shape'.

anthropophagy

Origin

From anthropo- + -phagy.

anthumous

Origin

Formed by analogy with posthumous, replacing the prefix post- by its antonym ant-.

anti

Origin

The prefix anti- (meaning "against") used on its own as a standalone word.

antialiasing

Origin

From anti- + aliasing.

antiapartheid

Origin

From anti- + apartheid.

antibiotic

Latin

Borrowed from French antibiotique, built from anti- ("against") and -biotic ("relating to life," from Greek bios).

antiblooming

Origin

From anti- + blooming.

antiblue

Origin

From anti- + blue.

antibody

German

From anti- ("against") plus body, a direct translation of the German word Antikörper.

antic

Italian

From Italian antico, ancient, from Latin antiquus. The word was first applied to the grotesque human and animal figures found in excavated Roman remains, and passed from those strange images to strange behaviour.

anticannibalism

Origin

From anti- + cannibalism.

anticapitalist

Origin

From anti- + capitalist.

antichrist

Origin

Built from anti- ("against") and Christ.

anticipatable

Origin

From anticipate + -able.

anticipate

Latin

From Latin anticipare, "to take beforehand," from ante- ("before") and capere ("to take").

anticipation

Latin

From Latin anticipatio, built on the same root as anticipate.

anticommunity

Origin

From anti- + community.

antidepressant

Origin

Built from anti- ("against") and depressant.

antidote

Greek

From Greek antidoton, "given against" — a clipped form of a phrase meaning "medicine given as a countermeasure."

antiemphysemic

Origin

By surface analysis, anti- + emphysema + -ic

antievangelical

Origin

From anti- + evangelical.

antifragile

Origin

From anti- + fragile.

antifreeze

Origin

Built from anti- ("against") and freeze.

antigoglin

Origin

See sigogglin.

Antigone

Greek

From Greek Antigonē, the mythological figure's name.