"A" Word Origins

Astor

Origin

From John Jacob Astor, likely ultimately from Occitan astur ("hawk").

Astoria

Origin

From the surname Astor + the suffix -ia.

astound

Middle English

From Middle English astouned, the past participle of a verb related to "astonish" — the two words share the same root and once meant essentially the same thing.

astragal

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀστράγαλος (astrágalos). Doublet of astragalus.

astragalus

Origin

From Latin astragalus, from Ancient Greek ἀστράγαλος (astrágalos). Doublet of astragal.

astral

Latin

From Latin astralis, from astrum ("star"), from Greek ástron.

astray

Latin

From Old French estraier ("to stray"), ultimately from Latin extra ("beyond") plus vagari ("to wander").

Astrid

Origin

Borrowed from modern Scandinavian (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) Astrid since the 19th century.

astride

Origin

Formed from "a-" plus "stride."

astringency

Origin

From astringent + -cy.

astringent

Latin

From Latin astringere 'to bind fast, draw tight', from ad 'to' and stringere 'to bind'.

astrologer

Middle English

From Middle English astrologer, astrologier, astrologere, formed from Middle English astrologie or Latin astrologus + Middle English -ere, equivalent to astrology + -er. Ousted imported Middle English astrologien (“astrologer”), borrowed from Old French astrologien. Displaced Old English tungolwītga (literally “star prophet”).

astrological

Latin

From Latin astrologicus + -al. By surface analysis, astrology + -ical.

astrology

Greek

From Greek astrología, "telling of the stars," from ástron ("star") plus -logía ("study of").

astrometry

Origin

From astro- + -metry.

astronaut

Greek

Coined from Greek ástron ("star") plus nautēs ("sailor") — literally a "star sailor."

astronomer

Middle English

From Middle English astronomer, equivalent to astronomy + -er. Displaced native Old English tungolcræftiga.

astronomical

Middle French

Attested since at least 1550, from Middle French astronomique or directly from Latin astronomicus, from Ancient Greek ἀστρονομικός (astronomikós).

astronomy

Middle English

From Middle English astronomie, astronemy, from Old French astronomie, equivalent to astro- + -nomy. Displaced native Old English tungolcræft.

astute

Latin

From Latin astutus ("crafty"), from astus ("craft, skill").

asunder

Old English

From Old English on sundran ("apart, separately"), related to sunder ("to separate").

Aswell

Origin

Variant of Haswell.

asylum

Ancient Greek

From Latin asylum, from Ancient Greek asylon ("sanctuary, refuge"), literally "not subject to seizure."

asymmetric

Origin

From a- + symmetric, as Ancient Greek ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría, “disproportion, deformity”).

asymmetrical

Origin

From a- ("not") + symmetrical.

asymmetry

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría), from ἀσύμμετρος (asúmmetros) + -ία (-ía), from ἀ- (a-) + σύμμετρος (súmmetros); equivalent to a- + symmetry.

asymptomatic

Greek

From Greek a- 'without' and symptomatic, ultimately from symptoma 'a happening, an occurrence'.

asynchronous

Greek

From Greek a- 'not', syn 'together' and chronos 'time'.

asynergy

Origin

From a- + synergy.

asynonymous

Origin

From a- + synonymous.

asystole

Origin

From a- ("without") + systole ("contraction of the heart").

at

Old English

From Old English æt ("at, near, by"), from Proto-Germanic *at, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "near."

ATA

Origin

An abbreviation of AT Attachment, referring to the IBM PC/AT computer.

ataman

Origin

Borrowed from Russian атама́н (atamán).

atari

Japanese

The Go term is borrowed from Japanese atari, meaning "hit" or "to be hit."

atb

English

An initialism of all the best.

ate

Tagalog

From Tagalog ate ("elder sister"), itself borrowed from a Hokkien word for "eldest sister."

atelier

French

Borrowed from French atelier, originally referring to a workshop where splinters of wood were used, from astelle ("small piece of wood").

athanasy

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀθανασία (athanasía, “immortality”).

atheism

Middle French

From Middle French athéisme, from Greek atheos ("godless"), from a- ("without") + theos ("god").

atheist

Middle French

From Middle French athéiste, from Greek atheos ("godless"), from a- ("without") + theos ("god").

atheistical

Origin

From atheist + -ical. Attested earlier than atheistic.

Athelstan

Old English

From Old English æþele ("noble") + stān ("stone").

Athena

Greek

From Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, reinterpreted in modern slang as a critical label.

Athenian

Origin

Built from the name Athens plus the adjective ending "-ian," following the same pattern as words like "Parisian" or "Venetian."

Athens

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Ἀθῆναι (Athênai), named after the goddess Athena.

atheophobia

Origin

From atheo- (“a- + theo-”) + -phobia.

Atherton

Old English

From an Old English personal name Æþelhere + tūn ("settlement, town").