"A" Word Origins

autonomy

Greek

Borrowed from Greek autonomía, "independence," built from autónomos, "living under one's own laws."

autopilot

Origin

A blend of auto- ("self") and pilot, coined for the mechanical device that steers a craft without a human at the controls.

autopsy

New Latin

From New Latin autopsia, from Greek autopsía, "seeing with one's own eyes" — from autós ("self") and the root behind "-opsy" ("seeing").

autosarcophagy

Origin

From auto- + sarcophagy.

autosexuality

Origin

From auto- + sexuality.

autosled

Origin

From auto- + sled.

autumn

Latin

From Old French automne, ultimately from Latin autumnus.

auxesis

Origin

From Ancient Greek αὔξησις (aúxēsis, “growth”), from αὐξάνω (auxánō, “to grow”).

auxiliary

Latin

From Latin auxiliarius, "helping," from auxilium, "help, aid," related to augere, "to increase."

av

Hebrew

The calendar sense comes from Hebrew Av, ultimately traced back to an Akkadian month name.

Ava

Germanic

Traced to several possible roots, including a Hebrew variant of Eva, an anglicized form of the Irish name Aoife, and an older Germanic name element.

avail

Latin

From Old French a- ("to") plus vail, from valoir, "to be worth," from Latin valere, "to be strong."

availability

Origin · 1800

Formed from available plus -ity, in use since the early 1800s.

available

Middle English

From Middle English availlable, built from avail plus -able.

avalanche

Latin

From French avalanche, blending a regional word for "downhill" with an older term for a landslide, ultimately from Latin labor, "to slip or slide."

Avalon

Origin

Ultimately from a Celtic word for "apple tree".

avant

French

Shortened from avant-garde, itself from French avant ("before, ahead") and garde ("guard").

avant garde

French

From French avant-garde 'advance guard', the troops sent ahead of the main army, from avant 'before' and garde 'guard'.

avarice

Latin

From Old French avarice, from Latin avaritia, from avarus, "greedy."

avaricious

Origin

From Middle English avaricious, from Old French avaricieux, from avarice, from Latin avaritia (“greed”), from avarus (“greedy”), of avere (“crave, long for”).

avast

Dutch

Likely from Dutch houd vast, "hold fast," from houden ("to hold") and vast ("firm, tight").

avatar

Sanskrit · 1980

From Sanskrit avatara, "descent of a deity," borrowed into English in the 18th century; the online-profile meaning grew out of its use in 1980s video games.

ave

Latin

From Latin ave, a greeting meaning "hail" or "be well."

avenge

Latin

From Old French avengier, from a- plus vengier ("to avenge"), rooted in Latin vindicare.

avenger

Middle English

From Middle English avengere, formed from avenge plus -er.

avenue

Latin

From French avenue, the feminine past participle of avenir, "to approach," from Latin advenire, "to come to."

aver

Late Latin

From Old French averer, from Late Latin adverare, built on Latin verus, "true."

average

French

Traced back to Arabic ʕawariyya, "damaged goods," by way of Italian avaria and French avarie — originally a shipping term for cargo-loss costs shared among merchants, later generalized to any calculated "middle" figure.

averie

Origin

Re-spelling of Avery.

averment

Origin

From Middle English averement, from Old French averrement, averement, from averer (Modern French avérer).

averse

Latin

From Latin aversus, the past participle of avertere, "to turn away."

aversion

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin aversio, "a turning away."

avert

Latin

From Old French avertir, from Latin avertere, "to turn away," from ab- plus vertere, "to turn."

Avery

Old English

From Old English Ælfræd ("elf counsel"), a doublet of Alfred.

Avi

Sanskrit

A clipped, informal form of "avatar," itself from Sanskrit avatāra ("descent"), used in Hindu tradition for a deity taking physical form.

avian

Latin

From Latin avis, "bird," plus the adjective ending -ian.

aviary

Origin

From Latin aviārium, from avis (“bird”).

aviation

Latin

Borrowed from French aviation, built on Latin avis, "bird."

aviator

Latin

Borrowed from French aviateur, itself built on Latin avis, "bird".

avid

Latin

From French avide, from Latin avidus, "eager or greedy", from aveō, "to long for".

avidity

Origin

From Middle English avidite, from Old French avidite (modern French avidité), from Latin aviditās (“avidity, covetousness”), equivalent to avid + -ity.

Avignon

French

From French Avignon, via Occitan Avinhon.

Avinash

Hindi

From Hindi अविनाश (avināś), "indestructible".

avionics

Origin

Blend of aviation + electronics.

avocado

Spanish · 1696

Via Spanish aguacate from the Nahuatl āhuacatl. First recorded in English in a 1696 list of Jamaican plants.

avocation

Origin

From Latin āvocātiō (“a distraction”), from āvocō (“to call off, distract”).

avocational

Origin

From avocation + -al.

avoid

Latin

From Anglo-Norman avoider, from Old French esvuidier, "to empty out" — from es- + vuidier, related to Latin vacuus, "empty".