"A" Word Origins

achievement

Old French

From Old French achever ("to finish"), the same root as "achieve," with the ending "-ment" added to turn the verb into a noun.

Achilles

Ancient Greek

From the Ancient Greek name Akhilleus, of uncertain origin, borrowed into Latin as Achilles.

achoo

Origin

An imitative word that copies the sound of sneezing.

achromatic

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀχρωμάτιστος (akhrōmátistos, “uncolored”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + χρῶμα (khrôma, “color”), equivalent to a- + chromatic; compare French achromatique.

achy

Origin

From "ache" plus the adjective ending "-y."

acid

Latin

From French acide, from Latin acidus, "sour," related to the verb aceo, "to be sour."

acidic

Origin

From "acid" plus the adjective ending "-ic."

acidity

Latin

From French acidité, from Latin aciditas, "sourness."

ACK

Origin

Shortened from "acknowledged," originally used in telegraph and radio signalling.

acker

Origin

Origin unclear; possibly related to "eagre," an old word for a tidal wave in a river.

Ackerman

Middle English

From Middle English acker ("field") + man; originally denoted a farmer who did not own the fields he worked.

acknowledge

Middle English · 1500

A blend of two Middle English verbs — one meaning "to recognize" and one meaning "to reveal or admit" — that merged into one word in the 1500s.

acknowledging

Origin

From acknowledge + -ing.

acknowledgment

Origin

From "acknowledge" plus the noun ending "-ment."

Ackroyd

Middle English

From Middle English ake ("oak") + royd ("clearing").

Acme

Ancient Greek

From the Ancient Greek word akme, meaning "point" or "peak." The word later became a popular generic company name, most famously in Looney Tunes cartoons.

acne

Ancient Greek

From a New Latin word likely mangled from the Ancient Greek akme, "point" — probably a copying error for a word describing skin eruptions.

acolyte

Origin

From Middle English acolite, acolit, from Old French acolyt and Late Latin acolythus, from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos, “follower, attendant”).

acorn

Old English

From Old English æcern ("acorn, nut"), later respelled to look like "corn" even though the two words aren't related.

Acosta

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Acosta, from Catalan Acosta.

acoustic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek akoustikos, "relating to hearing," from akouo, "to hear."

acoustics

Origin

From "acoustic" plus the plural science-naming ending "-s," as in "physics" or "mathematics."

acquaint

Late Latin

From Old French acointier, from Late Latin accognitare, related to "cognition" and "know."

acquaintance

Old French

From Old French acointance, "friendship, familiarity," from acointier, "to acquaint."

acquiesce

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French acquiescer, from Latin acquiescō; ad + quiescō (“to rest”), from quies (“rest”).

acquiescence

Origin

Borrowed from French acquiescence.

acquiescent

Origin

From Latin acquiescens (present participle of acquiēscō).

acquire

Latin

From Old French aquerre, from Latin acquiro, built from ad- ("to") and quaero ("to seek").

acquisition

Latin

From Latin acquisitio, from acquiro, "to acquire."

acquisitive

Origin

From an alteration of Latin acquisītus (“acquired, gained”), or possibly from acquisite + -ive.

acquit

Origin

From Middle English aquī̆ten (“to give in return; to pay, repay; to redeem (a pledge, security), to make good (a promise); to make amends; to relieve of an obligation; to acquit, clear of a charge; to free; to deprive of; to do one's part, acquit oneself; to act, behave (in a certain way)”), from Old French aquiter (“to act, do”) and Medieval Latin acquitāre (“to settle a debt”), from ad- (“to”) + quitare (“to free”), equivalent to a- + quit. Doublet of acquiet; also related to quit, quiet and acquiesce.

acquittal

Origin

From "acquit" plus the noun ending "-al."

acquittance

Origin

From Anglo-Norman acquitance, Middle French aquitance, from acquiter (“to acquit”). Compare later acquittal.

acrasia

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin acrasia (“lack of temperance”), and from its etymon Ancient Greek ᾰ̓κρᾱσῐ́ᾱ (ăkrāsĭ́ā, “bad mixture”), from ἄκρᾱτος (ákrātos, “pure, unmixed; of a person: intemperate, violent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Ἄκρᾱτος (Ákrātos) is derived from ᾰ̓- (ă-, prefix forming terms having a sense opposite to the stems or words to which it is attached) + κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to blend, mix; to cool or temper by mixing”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head, top; horn”)) + -τος (-tos, suffix forming adjectives). Doublet of acrasy.

acrasy

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin acrasia (“lack of temperance”), and from its etymon Ancient Greek ᾰ̓κρᾱσῐ́ᾱ (ăkrāsĭ́ā, “bad mixture”) (see further at acrasia) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting conditions, qualities, or states).

acre

Old English

From Old English æcer, "field where crops are grown," from a very old Germanic and Indo-European root meaning simply "field."

acreage

Origin

From "acre" plus the noun ending "-age."

acrid

Origin

From Latin ācris, from ācer (“sharp”); probably assimilated in form to acid. Compare eager.

acrobat

French

From French acrobate, tracing back to Greek akrobatēs, "one who walks on tiptoe" — a combination of akron ("tip, peak") and bainein ("to walk").

acrobatic

Origin

Formed from acrobat plus the adjective-forming suffix -ic.

acrobatics

Origin

From acrobat plus the noun-forming suffix -ics, on the pattern of words like "gymnastics."

acronym

German · 1940

Borrowed from German Akronym, built from Greek akron ("tip, end") and onyma ("name"), on the model of "homonym" and "synonym." First used in the early 1900s in German and by 1940 in English.

acronymization

Origin

From acronym + -ization.

Acropolis

Greek

From Greek akropolis, joining akros ("highest") and polis ("city") — literally "the highest part of the city."

across

Middle English

From Middle English acros, originally a-croiz — "in the form of a cross" — from Anglo-Norman croiz ("cross").

acrotomophilia

Origin

From the Ancient Greek ἀκρότομος (akrótomos, “having the top cut off”) + φιλία (philía).

acrylic

Latin

From "acryl" (from acrolein, itself from Latin acer, "sharp," and olere, "to smell") plus the adjective suffix -ic.

act

Latin

From Old French acte, from Latin acta ("things done, register of events"), from agere ("to do, to drive").