"A" Word Origins

Antigua

Origin

Named by Christopher Columbus after a revered religious icon in Seville, Spain — the Virgin of La Antigua.

antihistamine

Origin

Built from anti- ("against") and histamine, the chemical the body releases during an allergic reaction.

antillean

Origin

From Antilles + -ean.

antimagnetic

Origin

From anti- + magnetic.

antimatter

Origin · 1898

Coined in 1898 by physicist Arthur Schuster in a playful article about hypothetical matter that repels gravity, though the modern scientific meaning only took hold in the 1940s.

antimicrobial

Origin

From anti- + microbe + -ial.

antimodel

Origin

From anti- + model.

antimyth

Origin

From anti- + myth.

antinational

Origin

From anti- + national.

antinationalism

Origin

From anti- + nationalism.

Antioch

Greek

From Greek Antiokheia, named after Antiochus, the father of Seleucus I, the general who founded the Seleucid Empire following Alexander the Great's conquests.

antioxidant

English

From anti- meaning against, plus oxidant, a substance that causes oxidation.

antipasto

Origin

Borrowed from Italian antipasto (“[food] before the meal”). Doublet of antepast.

antipathy

Origin

PIE word *h₂énti Borrowed from Middle French antipathie (“deep dislike; object of dislike; incompatibility between things”) (modern French antipathie (“dislike, antipathy”)), and from its etymon Latin antipathīa (“counteraction; natural aversion, antipathy”), from Ancient Greek ἀντῐπάθειᾰ (antĭpátheiă, “suffering instead”), Koine Greek ἀντῐπάθειᾰ (antĭpátheiă, “contrary affection; contrast; counteraction; opposition”), from ἀντῐπᾰθής (antĭpăthḗs, “(adjective) felt mutually; in return for suffering; (noun) remedy for suffering”) (from ἀντι- (anti-, prefix meaning ‘against’) + πᾰ́θος (pắthos, “death; disaster; misfortune; pain; suffering; strong feeling, emotion, passion, pathos”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind; a bond”) or *kʷendʰ- (“to endure; to suffer”)) + -ης (-ēs, suffix forming third-declension adjectives)) + -ειᾰ (-eiă, suffix forming feminine adjectives and nouns).

antipattern

Origin

From anti- + pattern, coined by Andrew Koenig in 1995.

antipodal

Origin

From antipode + -al.

antipope

Origin

From Middle French antipape (later assimilated to anti- + pope), from Medieval Latin antipāpa.

antipopery

Origin

From anti- + popery.

antiquary

Origin

From Latin antīquārius (“pertaining to antiquity, one fond of or employed in antiquities”), from antīquus (“ancient”) + -ārius; equivalent to antique + -ary.

antiquated

Origin

From antiquate ("to make old or obsolete") plus the "-ed" ending.

antique

Latin

From French antique, ultimately from Latin antiquus ("former, old"), from ante ("before").

antiquity

Latin

From Latin antiquitas, built on antiquus ("ancient"), the same root as antique.

antiromance

Origin

From anti- + romance.

antisemitism

German

A calque of German Antisemitismus, coined in the nineteenth century from anti- 'against' + Semitism; despite its form, it has only ever meant hostility towards Jews.

antiseptic

Latin

Built from anti- ("against") and septic (relating to infection or decay).

antisocial

Origin

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

antisynchronous

Origin

From anti- + synchronous.

antisynergy

Origin

From anti- + synergy.

antitheist

Origin

From anti- + theist.

antithesis

Greek

From Greek antithesis 'opposition', from anti- 'against' and tithenai 'to place'.

antithetical

Origin

From Latin antitheticus + -al.

antivirus

English

From anti- meaning against, and virus in its computing sense.

antizenith

Origin

From anti- + zenith.

antler

Latin

From Old French antoillier, ultimately traced to a Latin phrase meaning roughly "before the eye" — describing where the growth sits on the head.

Antlers

Latin

From Old French antoillier, ultimately from Latin ante oculos, "before the eyes" — describing the part of the growth positioned in front of the animal's eyes.

Antoine

Latin

The French form of the Latin name Antonius, a doublet of Anthony.

Antoinette

French

A feminine diminutive of the French name Antoine, equivalent to Anthony.

Anton

German

Borrowed from German and other northern European languages, a doublet of Anthony.

Antonia

Spanish

From Spanish Antonia. The feminine equivalent of Anthony.

Antonio

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Antonio and Spanish Antonio. Doublet of Anthony.

antonius

Origin

From Latin Antōnius.

Antonov

Origin

Borrowed from Bulgarian Антонов (Antonov).

antsy

Origin · 1900

Grew out of the American English phrase "ants in one's pants" — first recorded as rural Southern US slang in the early 1900s.

antu

Origin

From Akkadian 𒀭𒌈.

Antwerp

Dutch

From Dutch Antwerpen.

Antwon

French

Anglicization of French Antoine.

Anubis

Latin

From Latin Anūbis, from Ancient Greek Ἄνουβις (Ánoubis), from Egyptian jnpw, i-n:p-w-E16

Anuj

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit अनुज (anuja, “younger brother”).