"A" Word Origins

apiary

Latin

From Latin apiarium 'beehouse', from apis 'bee'.

apiece

Middle English

From Middle English "a pece," literally "a piece" — as in, counted out one piece at a time.

apizza

Origin

Borrowed from Neapolitan pizza (“pizza”), with the feminine definite article 'a.

APK

English

An initialism of Android Package.

aplenty

Origin

From an older phrase "a plenty," combining the indefinite article with "plenty."

aplomb

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from French aplomb (“plumb line”).

apnea

Greek

From Greek apnoia, "absence of breathing," from a- ("without") plus pnein ("to breathe").

apocalypse

Greek

From Greek apokalypsis, "an uncovering or revelation," from apo- ("away") plus kalyptein ("to cover"). Its "end of the world" sense comes from the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse.

apocalyptic

Greek

From Greek apokalyptikos, "revelatory," related to apocalypse.

apogee

Origin

From Middle French apogée, from Latin apogaeum, apogēum, from Ancient Greek ἀπόγειον (apógeion, “away from Earth”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).

Apollo

Latin

From Latin Apollo, from Greek Apollon, a god's name of uncertain deeper origin.

apollonian

Origin

From Latin Apollō (Apollōn-) + -ian and Apollonius/Apollonia + -an.

apologetic

Greek

From Greek apologetikos, "suitable for a defense," ultimately from the same root as "apology."

apologetics

Origin

From Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defense”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoûmai, “I speak in one's defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apó, “from, off”) (see apo-) + λόγος (lógos, “speech”) + -ics.

apologia

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “speech in defense of a position”). Doublet of apology.

apologise

Origin

From apology + -ise.

apologist

Origin

From apology + -ist, from French apologiste.

apologize

Greek

From "apology" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize," ultimately from Greek apologia, "a speech in one's defense."

apologue

Origin

Borrowed from French apologue, from Latin apologus from Ancient Greek ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “story, tale, fable”) from ἀπό- (apó-, “off, away from”) + λόγος (lógos, “speech”). Equivalent to apo- + -logue.

apology

Greek

From Greek apologia, "a speech made in one's own defense," from apo- ("away/off") plus logos ("speech").

Apophis

Greek

From Greek Apophis, adapted from an Egyptian name and later reshaped to resemble ophis, Greek for "snake."

apoplexy

Greek

From Greek apoplexia, from apoplessein 'to disable by a stroke', reaching English through Latin and Old French.

apostasy

Greek

From Greek apostasis 'defection, revolt', literally a standing away, from apo 'away from' and stasis 'a standing'.

apostate

Origin

From Late Latin apostata, from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel”), from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).

aposteme

Origin

From Middle English aposteme (“a swelling, inflamation”), from Old French aposteme and Late Latin apostēma, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστημα (apóstēma, “abcesse”) (source of Modern Greek απόστημα (apóstima, “abscess”)), related to ἀποστέλλω (apostéllō, “to remove”).

apostille

French

From French apostille 'annotation, marginal note', from apostiller 'to add a note'.

apostle

Greek

From Greek apostolos, "one sent forth," from apostellein, "to send away."

apostolic

Latin

From Latin apostolicus, from Greek apostolikos, both derived from apostolos, "apostle."

apostrophe

Greek

From Greek apostrophos, "turning away," from apostrephein, "to turn away" — the punctuation sense comes from the mark showing where a letter has been "turned away," or omitted.

apotemnophilia

Origin

Coined in a paper in 1977 by J. Money et al. in the Journal of Sex Research,http://www.jstor.org/pss/3811894, from Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τέμνω (témnō, “cut”) + -philia.

apotemnophobia

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”) + -phobia.

apothecary

Latin

From Greek apotheke, "a storehouse," via Latin apotheca and Old French apotecaire — literally, someone who runs a place where things are stored.

apothecium

Origin

Coined in 1803, probably based on Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “storehouse”). By surface analysis, derived from thecium, see there also for related terms.

apothegm

Origin

From French apophthegme or Medieval Latin apothegma, from Ancient Greek ἀπόφθεγμα (apóphthegma), from ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophthéngomai, “speak out”).

App

Origin

A shortening of "application" (as in application software), popularized with the rise of smartphones.

Appalachian

Spanish

From the name of the Apalachee, a Native American people of northern Florida, later applied by Spanish explorers to the wider mountain range.

appall

Origin

From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall.

appalled

Origin

From the verb "appall," "-ed" added to describe the resulting state.

appalling

Old French

From "appall" plus "-ing," ultimately from Old French apalir, "to grow pale."

apparatus

Latin

From Latin apparatus, "preparation, equipment," from ad- ("toward") plus parare ("to prepare").

apparel

Old French

From Old French apareillier, related to "apparel" as in outfitting or preparing something.

apparency

Origin

From Middle English apparancie, from Latin appārentia. Doublet of apparence and appearance.

apparent

Latin

From Latin apparens, "appearing," the present participle of apparere, "to appear."

apparently

Origin

From "apparent" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

apparition

Latin

From Latin apparitio, "an appearing," from apparere, "to appear."

appeach

Origin

From Anglo-Norman apescher, rare variant of Old French empescher, from Latin impedicō.

appeal

Latin

From Latin appellare, "to address, call upon," via Old French apeler, "to call."

appealing

Origin

From "appeal" plus "-ing."