"A" Word Origins

adder

Middle English

From Middle English naddere. The "n" was lost when "a naddere" was misheard as "an addere" — the same shift that turned "a napron" into "an apron."

Adderall

Origin · 1994

Coined circa 1994 by pharmaceutical executive Roger Griggs, a contraction of "ADD for all".

addict

Latin

From Latin addictus, past participle of addicere, "to award or bind someone to something" — originally a legal term for a court assigning a person to another's service.

addiction

Latin

From addict plus -ion. Ultimately from Latin addictio, originally a legal term for a court "awarding" someone as bound to another's service.

addictive

Origin · 1900

First recorded in the early twentieth century, alongside the modern sense of "addiction," which had earlier been used mainly of opium.

Addie

Origin

Diminutives formed with -ie.

Addis

Origin

From a diminutive of Adam plus the patronymic suffix -s.

Addison

Origin

A patronymic surname from a medieval diminutive of Adam + -son.

addition

Latin

From Old French adition, from Latin additio, from addere, "to add."

additional

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin additionalis, built from addition plus -al.

additionally

Origin

From additional plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

additive

Late Latin

From Late Latin additivus, based on the stem of Latin addere, "to add."

addle

Origin

From Middle English adel (“rotten”), from Old English adel, adela (“mire, pool, liquid excrement”), from Proto-West Germanic *adal, from Proto-Germanic *adalaz, *adalô (“cattle urine, liquid manure”). Akin to Scots adill, North Frisian ethel (“urine”), Saterland Frisian adel (“dung”), Middle Low German adele (“mud, liquid manure”) (Dutch aal (“liquid manure”)), Old Swedish adel (“urine”), Danish ajle (“liquid manure”), Bavarian Adel (“liquid manure”).

addled

Origin

From Middle English addled, adyld, equivalent to addle (“urine, liquid filth”) + -ed. Addle derives from Old English adel, adela (“mud, mire, liquid manure”), cognate with Old Swedish adel (“urine”), Middle Low German adel, Dutch aal (“manure”). Used in noun phrase addle egg (mid-13c.) “egg that does not hatch, rotten egg”, lit. “urine egg”, a calque of Latin ovum urinum, which is itself an erroneous calque of Ancient Greek οὔριον ᾠόν (oúrion ōión, “putrid egg”, literally “wind egg”), from οὔριος (oúrios, “of the wind”), from οὖρος (oûros, “fair wind”) (confused by Roman writers with οὔριος (oúrios, “of urine”), from οὖρον (oûron, “urine”)). Because of this usage, the noun in English was taken as an adjective from c. 1600, meaning “putrid”.

addlehead

Origin

From addle + head.

addlepated

Origin

From addle + pated.

address

Latin

From Old French adrecier, "to straighten, to direct," from Latin dirigere, "to guide" — the same root that gives us "direct."

adduce

Origin

From Middle English adducen, from Latin addūcere, adductum (“to lead or bring to”), from ad- + dūcere (“to lead”). See duke, and compare adduct.

adduct

Origin

Borrowed from Latin adductus, past participle of adduco. See adduce.

adduction

Origin

Borrowed from Latin adductio, adductionis, from adducō (“to bring to oneself”), from ad + ducō (“to lead”). Compare French adduction. Equivalent to adduct + -ion or adduce + -tion. See adduce.

adductor

Origin

From Latin adduco. Equivalent to adduct + -or.

addy

Origin

Shortenings + -y.

addyson

Origin

Modern fanciful spelling of Addison.

Ade

Origin

The surname derives from medieval forms of Adam or Adrian.

Adel

Proto-Germanic

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *aþalaz ("noble").

Adela

Latin

Latinate form of French Adèle, from Proto-Germanic *aþalaz ("noble").

Adelaide

German

From Old High German Adalheid, from adal ("noble") + heit ("nature, character"); a doublet of Alice.

Adele

French

Borrowed from French Adèle, equivalent of Adela, from a Germanic root meaning “noble”. Compare athel, German edel, Old English æþele.

Adeline

Origin

Brought to England by the Normans as a shortened form of Adela and Adele.

Adem

Origin

From the Amharic form of the name Adam.

Aden

Arabic

From Arabic ʕadan, likely tracing back through Akkadian and Sumerian words for open, fertile plain — the same root behind the biblical "Eden."

adept

Latin

From French adepte, from Latin adeptus, "one who has attained (skill or knowledge)," from adipisci, "to attain."

adequate

Latin

From Latin adaequatus, "made equal to," from adaequare, "to make equal," from ad- ("to") plus aequare ("to equalize").

adequately

Origin

From adequate plus -ly.

adhere

Latin

From Latin adhaerere, "to stick to," from ad- ("to") plus haerere ("to stick").

adherence

Latin

From Latin "adhaerere," to stick to, from "ad-" (to) plus "haerere" (to cling).

adherent

Latin

From Latin adhaerentem, present participle of adhaerere 'to stick to', from ad- 'to' + haerere 'to stick'.

adhesive

Medieval Latin

From French adhésif, from Medieval Latin adhaesivus, related to adhere.

adiaphanous

Origin

From a- + diaphanous.

Adidas

German

From the German sportswear company Adidas, named after its founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler.

adie

Origin

The given names are diminutives + -ie.

adieu

Old French

From Old French a dieu, short for "I commend you to God" — literally "to God." A doublet of "adios," which comes from the same idea in Spanish.

Adina

Hebrew

From Hebrew עדינה.

adios

French

Borrowed directly from Spanish adiós, itself from a Dios ("to God") — the same root idea as the French-derived "adieu."

Aditi

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit aditi, literally "boundless" or "without limit."

Aditya

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit āditya, meaning "of Aditi" or "son of Aditi."

adjacency

Origin

From adjacence + -y.

adjacent

Latin

From Latin adiacens, "lying beside," from ad- ("to") plus iacere ("to lie down") — the same root that gives us "adjacent" its sense of touching or bordering.