"A" Word Origins

anumerical

Origin

From a- + numerical.

anuran

Origin

From New Latin Anoura, Anura (“name of the order of amphibians”), or from French Anoures (“name of a family of amphibians”), from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, “lacking”)) + Ancient Greek οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -an.

anus

Latin

From Latin anus, meaning "ring," describing the shape of the opening — related to words like "annular" and "anal."

anvil

Old English

From Old English anfilte, built from "on" + a Germanic root meaning "beaten" — literally something metal is beaten on.

Anwar

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic أَنْوَر (ʔanwar, “most luminous”).

anxiety

Latin

From Latin anxietas, from anxius ("troubled, distressed"), ultimately from a root meaning "to choke" — the same root behind "anguish" and "anger."

anxious

Latin

From Latin anxius, from angere ("to choke, cause pain") — the same root gives us "anger" and "anguish."

any

Old English

From Old English aenig, related to "one" — originally meant something close to "any single one."

anybody

Middle English

From Middle English ani-bodi, anybodi, eny body. By surface analysis, any + body.

anyhoo

Origin

A playful spin on "anyhow," echoing an old Scots pronunciation ("onyhoo").

anyhow

Origin

A combination of "any" + "how," originally meaning "in whatever way."

anyone

Middle English

From Middle English eny on, ony one. By surface analysis, any + one.

anyplace

Origin

From any + place.

anytime

Middle English

From Middle English any time, ony tyme, from Old English ǣniġum tīman, equivalent to any + time.

anyway

Origin

From any + way.

anyways

Origin

From any + adverbial genitive of way (compare always).

anywho

English

A playful alteration of anyhow, influenced by anyway.

anzu

Origin

Learned borrowing from Sumerian 𒀭𒉎𒂂𒄷 (AN.IM.DUGUD^(MUŠEN) /⁠Anzû⁠/, “a mythical dragon-like bird”), origin unknown, perhaps from 𒀭 (An, “heaven”) + 𒍪 (zu, “to know”).

ao

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 青(あお) (ao).

Aoki

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 青木 (Aoki).

AOL

Origin · 1990

Started as a jab at America Online users, who were notorious in 1990s internet forums for posting low-effort "me too" replies.

Aomori

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 青(あお)森(もり) (Aomori). The original Japanese name was first used in 1624. One origin claims that the city's name was derived from a former forest on a hill near present-day Honcho (本町) used by fishermen to locate the town.

aorta

Greek

From Greek aorte, related to a verb meaning "to lift or raise" — describing how the vessel rises from the heart.

aortal

Origin

From aorta + -al.

aortic

Origin

From aorta + the adjective ending -ic.

Aoyama

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 青山 (Aoyama).

apace

Origin

From Middle English apās (“step by step, slowly; quickly, rapidly; at once, promptly”), from Old French à pas (“at a quick pace”).

Apache

Spanish

From American Spanish apache, likely borrowed from a Zuni word for "enemy" or a Yavapai word meaning "people."

apart

Latin

From Anglo-Norman a part, from Latin ad partem, literally "to the side."

apartheid

Afrikaans

Borrowed directly from Afrikaans apartheid, meaning "separateness," from apart ("separate") plus a suffix matching English "-hood."

apartment

French

From French appartement, from Italian appartamento, related to "apart" — originally meaning a separated part of a building.

apathetic

Origin

From "apathy" + the adjective ending "-etic."

apathy

Greek

From Greek apatheia, "without suffering" — built from a- ("not") plus pathos ("feeling").

ape

Old English

From Old English apa, an ancient Germanic word for monkey or ape, of uncertain deeper origin.

apely

Origin

From ape + -ly.

aperient

Origin

Attested since the early 17th century, from Latin aperiens, present participle of aperire (“to open”).

aperitive

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin aperitivus, from Late Latin apertivus, from Latin aperio. Doublet of apéritif, from French.

apert

Origin

From Middle English apert, from Old French apert, from Latin apertus, past participle of aperire. Doublet of ouvert and overt.

apertly

Origin

From apert + -ly.

aperture

Latin

From Latin apertura, "an opening," from aperire, "to uncover or lay bare."

apex

Latin

From Latin apex, meaning "point, tip, or summit."

aphanisis

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀφάνισις (aphánisis, “disappearance”). In the psychology sense, coined by Ernest Jones in 1927.

aphasia

Greek

From Greek aphasia, "speechlessness," from a- ("not") plus phasis ("speech").

aphelion

Origin

From New Latin aphēlium (whence English aphelium, now displaced) + -ion (used in the names of other apsides). Aphelium was formed from Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, prefix meaning ‘away, from, off’) + ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)), modelled after New Latin apogaeum (“apogee”). The plural form aphelia is from aphelion + -a (plural form of the suffix -on).

aphid

Latin

From modern Latin aphis, of uncertain origin.

aphrodisiac

Latin

From Greek aphrodisiakos, "relating to Aphrodite," the goddess of love and beauty.

Aphrodite

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Aphrodite, a name of uncertain but possibly non-Greek origin, later associated with aphros ("sea foam") in folk etymology.

API

English

An initialism of application programming interface.