Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

A

A

(named ā in the English, and most commonly ä in other languages)
.
The first letter of the English and of many other alphabets. The capital A of the alphabets of Middle and Western Europe, as also the small letter (a), besides the forms in Italic, black letter, etc., are all descended from the old Latin A, which was borrowed from the Greek
Alpha
, of the same form; and this was made from the first letter ([GREEK]) of the Phœnician alphabet, the equivalent of the Hebrew Aleph, and itself from the Egyptian origin. The Aleph was a consonant letter, with a guttural breath sound that was not an element of Greek articulation; and the Greeks took it to represent their vowel Alpha with the ä sound, the Phœnician alphabet having no vowel symbols.
This letter, in English, is used for several different vowel sounds. See Guide to pronunciation, §§ 43-74. The regular long a, as in fate, etc., is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early part of the 17th century, was a sound of the quality of ä (as in far ).
2.
(Mus.)
The name of the sixth tone in the model major scale (that in C), or the first tone of the minor scale, which is named after it the scale in A minor. The second string of the violin is tuned to the A in the treble staff. – A sharp (A♯) is the name of a musical tone intermediate between A and B. – A flat (A♭) is the name of a tone intermediate between A and G.
A per se
(L.
per se
by itself)
,
one preëminent; a nonesuch.
[Obs.]
O fair Creseide, the flower and
A per se

Of Troy and Greece.
Chaucer.

A

(ȧ emph. ā)
.
1.
[Shortened form of
an
. AS. ān one. See
One
.]
An adjective, commonly called the indefinite article, and signifying one or any, but less emphatically.
“At a birth”; “In a word”; “At a blow”.
Shak.
It is placed before nouns of the singular number denoting an individual object, or a quality individualized, before collective nouns, and also before plural nouns when the adjective few or the phrase great many or good many is interposed;
as,
a
dog,
a
house,
a
man;
a
color;
a
sweetness;
a
hundred,
a
fleet,
a
regiment;
a
few persons,
a
great many days.
It is used for an, for the sake of euphony, before words beginning with a consonant sound [for exception of certain words beginning with h, see
An
];
as, a table,
a woman
,
a
year,
a
unit,
a
eulogy,
a
ewe,
a
oneness, such
a
one, etc.
Formally an was used both before vowels and consonants.
2.
[Originally the preposition
a
(
an
,
on
).]
In each; to or for each;
as, “twenty leagues
a
day”, “a hundred pounds
a
year”, “a dollar
a
yard”, etc.

A

(ȧ)
,
p
rep.
[Abbreviated form of
an
(AS.
on
). See
On
.]
1.
In; on; at; by.
[Obs.]
“A God’s name.” “Torn a pieces.” “Stand a tiptoe.” “A Sundays”
Shak.
“Wit that men have now a days.”
Chaucer.
“Set them a work.”
Robynson (More's Utopia).
2.
In process of; in the act of; into; to; – used with verbal substantives in -ing which begin with a consonant. This is a shortened form of the preposition an (which was used before the vowel sound); as in a hunting, a building, a begging.
“Jacob, when he was a dying”
Heb. xi. 21.
“We'll a birding together.” “ It was a doing.”
Shak.
“He burst out a laughing.”
Macaulay.
The hyphen may be used to connect a with the verbal substantive (as, a-hunting, a-building) or the words may be written separately. This form of expression is now for the most part obsolete, the a being omitted and the verbal substantive treated as a participle.

A

.
[From AS.
of
off, from. See
Of
.]
Of.
[Obs.]
“The name of John a Gaunt.” “What time a day is it ?”
Shak.
“It's six a clock.”
B. Jonson.

A

.
A barbarous corruption of have, of he, and sometimes of it and of they.
“So would I a done” “A brushes his hat.”
Shak.

A

.
An expletive, void of sense, to fill up the meter
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-
a
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

A

A

is the first letter of the Alphabet in most of the known languages of the earth; in the Ethiopic, however it is the thirteenth, and in the Runic the tenth. It is naturally the first letter, because it represents the first vocal sound naturally formed by the human organs; being the sound uttered with a mere opening of the mouth without constraint, and without any effort to alter the natural position or configuration of the lips. The A has been proven to be the first natural vocal sound, and entitled to the first place in alphabets.

A

has in English, three sounds; the long or slender, as in place, fate; the broad, as in wall, fall, which is shortened in salt, what; and the open, as in father, glass, which is shortened in rather, fancy. Its primitive sound was probably aw. A is also an abbreviation used before words beginning with an articulation; as a table, instead of an table, or one table. This is a modern change.
This letter serves as a prefix to many English words, as in asleep; awake; afoot; aground; agoing. In some cases, this is a contraction of Teutonic ge, as in asleep, aware, from the Saxon geslapan, to sleep, to beware. Sometimes it is a corruption of the Saxon on, as again from ongean , awake from onwacian to watch or wake. Before participles, it may be a contraction of the Celtic ag, the sign of the participle of the present tense; as, ag-radh, saying; a saying, a going. Or this may be a contraction of on, or what is equally probable, it may have proceeded from a mere accidental sound produced by negligent utterance. In some words, a may be a contraction of at, of, in, to, or an. In some words of Greek original, a is privative, giving to them a negative sense, as in anonymous.

A

mong the ancients, A was a numeral denoting 500, and with a dash A 5000. In the Julian Calendar, A is the first of the seven dominical letters.

A

mong logicians, A, as an abbreviation, stands for a universal affirmative proposition. A asserts; E denies. Thus in barbara, a thrice repeated denotes so many of the propositions to be universal.
The Romans used A to signify a negative or dissent in giving their votes; A standing for antiquo, I oppose or object to the proposed law. Opposed to this letter were U R, uti rogas, be it as you desire - the words used to express assent to a proposition. These letters were marked on wooden ballots, and each voter had an affirmative and a negative put into his hands, one of which at pleasure he gave as his vote, - In criminal trials, A stood for absolvo, I acquit, C for condemno, I condemn; and N L for non liquet, it is not evident; and the judges voted by ballots this marked. In inscriptions, A stands for Augustus; or for ager, aiunt, , aurum, argentum, &c.

A

is also used for anno, or ante; as in Anno Domini, the year of our Lord; anno mundi, the year of the world; ante meridiem, before noon, and for arts, in artium magister, master of arts.
In algebra, a and first letters of the alphabet represent known quantities - the last letters are sometimes used to represent unknown quantities.
music, A is the nominal of the sixth note in the natural diatonic scale - called by Guido la. It is also the name of one of the two natural moods; and it is the open note of the 2d string of the violin, by which the other strings are tuned and regulated.
In pharmacy, a or aa, abbreviations of the Greek ana, signify of each separately, or that the things mentioned should be taken in quantities of the same weight or measure.
In chimistry, A A A stand for amalgama, or amalgamation.
In commerce, A stands for accepted, as in case of a bill of exchange. Merchants also number their books by the letters - A,B,C, instead of figures. Public officers number their exhibits in the same manner; as the document A, or B.

A

lpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, are used in Scripture for the beginning and end - representative of Christ.
In mathematics, letters are used as representatives of numbers, lines, angles and quantities. In arguments, letters are substituted for persons, in cases supposed, or stated for illustration, as A contracts with B to deliver property to D. - In the English phraseology "a landlord as a hundred a year," " the sum amounted to ten dollars a man," a is merely the adjective one, and this mode of expression is idiomatic; a hundred in a year; ten dollars to a man.

Definition 2024

Á

Á

Á U+00C1, Á
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
Composition: A [U+0041] + ́ [U+0301]
← À
[U+00C0] 		Latin-1 Supplement  →
[U+00C2]

Translingual

Letter

Á upper case (lower case á)

  1. The letter A with an acute accent.

See also

Faroese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔɑː/
  • Rhymes: -ɔɑː
  • Homophone: á

Letter

Á ‎(lower case á)

  1. The second letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Portuguese

Noun

Á m (plural Ás)

  1. Alternative form of á

Saanich

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /e/

Letter

Á

  1. The second letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 亞 (“Asia”)

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Á

  1. Asia

Adjective

Á

  1. Asian

á

á

á U+00E1, á
LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
Composition: a [U+0061] + ́ [U+0301]
← à
[U+00E0] 		Latin-1 Supplement â →
[U+00E2]
See also: Appendix:Variations of "a"

Translingual

Letter

á lower case (upper case Á)

  1. The letter a with an acute accent.

See also

Czech

Letter

á ‎(lower case, upper case Á)

  1. The second letter of the Czech and Slovak alphabet, after a and before b

Faroese

Dalsá í Gásadali

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Long Old Norse /a/. often written as ā or normalized á or even aa, compare Swedish, Danish, Norwegian å.[2]

Noun

á ‎(upper case Á)

  1. The second letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

Etymology 2

From Old Norse á ‎(“river”), Svabo: Aa,[3] from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ ‎(“water”).

Noun

á f (genitive singular áar, plural áir)

  1. brook, stream, river
Synonyms
  • (brook): løkur
Declension
Declension of á
f2 (á) singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative á áin áir áirnar
accusative á ánna áir áirnar
dative á ánni áum áunum
genitive áar áarinnar áa áanna
Usage notes
  • (poetry): áir renna vakrar har - ‘the rivers flow beautiful there’
  • áirnar standa á svølgi - ‘the rivers stand on deep water’ (= it's raining a lot) (compare áarføri)
  • um áir og gjáir - ‘over rivers and gorges’ (= to travel a long way)
  • fara yvir um á(nna) eftir vatni - ‘go over the river in order to get water’ (= to look for unnecessary struggle)
  • tað gekk sum eftir ánni - ‘it went like after the river’ (= it was very easy)
  • ganga / fara í áir - go to the river in order to fish trouts[3] (described in Føroysk orðabók 1998 as local usage in the island of Vágar about fishing trouts in a lake[4])

Etymology 3

From Old Norse á ‎(“on, onto, in, at”). Svabo: aa.[5]

Preposition

á

  1. (with accusative) on, onto, to, near, beside
  2. (with accusative, fjords, bays, harbours) to
  3. (with dative) on, in, at
  4. (with dative, place names) in
  5. (with dative, fjords, bays, harbours) at, in
  6. (with dative, seafaring and fishery) at
Usage notes

Note: The preposition ‘á’ is used with accusative case if the verb shows movement from one place to another, whereas it is used with dative case if the verb shows location. This is the same usage as with German auf:

Governing accusative
with fjords, bays, harbours
  • skipið kom á Vestmanna - the ship came to Vestmanna
  • skipið kom á Havnina - the ship came to Tórshavn
Governing dative
  • bókin liggur á borðinum - the book is on the table
  • hann er umborð á skipinum - he is aboard the ship
  • tað stendur á talvuni - this stands on the blackboard
  • vera á fjalli - to be in the mountains (in order to roundup the sheep[5])
place names (antonym: av)
  • á Eiði - in Eiði
  • á Glyvrum - in Glyvrar
  • á Húsum - in Húsar
  • á Kirkju - in Kirkja
  • á Skála - in Skáli
  • á Velbastað - in Velbastaður
  • á bygd - in the village (countryside)
with fjords, bays, harbours
  • skipið lá á Havnini - the ship lay in Tórshavn
with seafaring and fishery
  • vera á útróðri - to be fishing (with a rowing boat)[5]

Etymology 4

(onomatopoeia).

Interjection

á!

  1. oh!
  2. animal sound of the puffin (lundi)
Usage notes
  • lundin sigur á á á - the puffin makes “oa oa oa”

Etymology 5

From Old Norse [Term?].

Verb

á

  1. old 3rd person present form of eiga (own)

References

  1. ↑ V. U. Hammershaimb: Færøsk Anthologi. Copenhagen 1891, 3rd edition Tórshavn 1991 (volume 2, page 2, entry á1, 2)
  2. ↑ Vibeke Sandersen: „Om bogstavet å“ in Nyt fra Sprognævnet 2002/3 September.
  3. 1 2 Aa1 in: Jens Christian Svabo: Dictionarium Færoense : Færøsk-dansk-latinsk ordbog. (ed. Christian Matras after manuscripts from late 18th century). Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1966. (p. 1)
  4. ↑ Jóhan Hendrik W. Poulsen, et al.: Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag 1998. (Entry á2)
  5. 1 2 3 aa2 in: Jens Christian Svabo: Dictionarium Færoense : Færøsk-dansk-latinsk ordbog. (ed. Christian Matras after manuscripts from late 18th century). Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1966. (p. 1f.)

Galician

Etymology 1

From contraction of preposition a ‎(“to, towards”) + feminine definite article a ‎(“the”)

Contraction

á f ‎(masculine ao, masculine plural aos, feminine plural ás)

  1. to the, towards the

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese aa, from Latin ala. Compare Portuguese á. Doublet of ala.

Noun

á f ‎(plural ás)

  1. wing

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /auː/
  • Rhymes: -auː

Etymology 1

Compare Danish å, Norwegian å, Swedish å.

Noun

á f ‎(genitive singular ár, nominative plural ár)

  1. river
Declension
Synonyms

Etymology 2

Inflection of á.

Noun

á f

  1. indefinite accusative singular of á
  2. indefinite dative singular of á

Etymology 3

Inflection of ær.

Noun

á f

  1. indefinite accusative singular of ær
  2. indefinite dative singular of ær

Etymology 4

Conjugation of eiga.

Verb

á

  1. first-person singular present indicative of eiga I own.
  2. third-person singular present indicative of eiga He owns.

Etymology 5

Interjection

á!

  1. ow! ouch!
    Á! Þetta var vont!‎
    Ouch! That hurt!

Etymology 6

Preposition

á

  1. (with dative, with accusative) on
    Hvar eru lyklarnir? - Þeir eru á borðinu.‎
    Where are the keys? - They are on the table.
  2. (with dative, with accusative) in
    Ég bý á Íslandi.‎
    I live in Iceland.
Derived terms

Irish

Alternative forms

  • agá, ’gá, ’ghá (obsolete)

Etymology

From dhá, lenited variant of dá.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɑː/

Pronoun

á (triggers lenition in the masculine singular, h-prothesis in the feminine singular, and eclipsis in the plural)

  1. him, her, it, them (used before the verbal noun in the progressive to indicate a third person direct object)
    Táim á bhualadh.‎ ― I am hitting him.
    Táim á ól.‎
    I am drinking it (referring to a masculine noun, e.g. bainne ‎(“milk”)).
    Táim á bualadh.‎ ― I am hitting her.
    Táim á hól.‎
    I am drinking it (referring to a feminine noun, e.g. bláthach ‎(“buttermilk”)).
    Táim á mbualadh.‎ ― I am hitting them.
    Táim á n-ól.‎ ― I am drinking them.
  2. used as a quasi-reflexive pronoun in a sentence with passive semantics
    Tá an buachaill á bhualadh.‎
    The boy is being hit (literally ‘The boy is at his hitting’).
    Tá an chloch á tógáil ag Séamas.‎
    The stone is being lifted by Séamas (literally ‘The stone is at its lifting by Séamas’).

Related terms

References

Mandarin

Romanization

á (Zhuyin ㄚˊ)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 啊
  2. Pinyin transcription of 嗄

Min Nan

Conjunction

á ‎(POJ)

  1. Introduces an alternative or a word that explains or means the same

Particle

á ‎(POJ, traditional and simplified 仔)

  1. a diminutive suffix for nouns, adjectives or quantities
    囡仔 [Min Nan]  ―  gín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  child
    小叔仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-chek-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)
    勻勻仔 / 匀匀仔 [Min Nan]  ―  ûn-ûn-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  slowly
    小可仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-khóa-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  a little bit
    歌仔戲 / 歌仔戏  ―  gēzǐxì  ―  Taiwanese opera
  2. a suffix that converts a verb or adjective into a noun
    抿仔 [Min Nan]  ―  bín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brush
    矮仔 [Min Nan]  ―  é-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  shorty
  3. a suffix placed after a name or title, used endearingly, humorously or pejoratively
Synonyms
  • (Mandarin) 子 (zǐ)

Old Irish

Determiner

á ‎(3rd person possessive) (triggers lenition in the masculine and neuter singular, an unwritten prothetic /h/ in the feminine singular, and eclipsis in the plural)

  1. Alternative form of a
    • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 90b12
      Mad·genatar á thimthirthidi.‎
      Blessed are his servants.
    • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 144d3
      Nach torbatu coitchenn ro·boí indib fri denum n-uilc at·rubalt tar hesi á pectha.‎
      Every common advantage that had been in them for doing evil has perished for their sin.

Particle

á (triggers lenition)

  1. Alternative form of a
    • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 53c11
      in tan as·mbeir, Tait, á maccu‎
      when he says, "Come, O sons"

Old Norse

á

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ahwō ‎(“water, stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ ‎(“water”). Cognate with Old English ēa, Old Frisian ā, ē, Old Saxon aha, Old High German aha, Gothic 𐌰𐍈𐌰 ‎(aƕa).

Alternative forms

Noun

á f (genitive ár, plural ár)

  1. river
Declension
Descendants
  • Danish: å
  • Faroese: á
  • Icelandic: á
  • Norwegian: å
  • Swedish: å

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *ana ‎(“on, onto”). Cognate with Old English on, Old Frisian on, Old Saxon ana, an, Old Dutch ana, an, in, Old High German ana, an, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 ‎(ana).

Preposition

á

  1. (with dative) on
    Þeir eru á hólmi.‎
    They are on an island.
  2. (with dative) in
    Ek bý á Islandi.‎
    I live in Iceland.
Descendants

Etymology 3

Probably related to Old Norse æ ‎(“always”)

Adverb

á (not comparable)

  1. always

Etymology 4

An imitation of a cry of pain.

Interjection

á

  1. ow! ouch!
Descendants
  • Icelandic: á

Etymology 5

Verb

á

  1. first-person singular present indicative of eiga: ‘I own’.
  2. third-person singular present indicative of eiga: ‘he owns’.


Old Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin illa f ‎(“that”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a/

Article

á

  1. feminine singular of o

Descendants

  • Fala: a
  • Galician: a
  • Portuguese: a

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈa/
  • Homophones: à, a, há, ah

Etymology 1

From Latin ā.

Alternative forms

Noun

á m (plural ás)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A/a.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese aa ‎(“wing”), from Latin āla ‎(“wing”). Cognate with Galician á, Spanish ala, Catalan ala, Occitan ala, French aile, Italian ala and Ligurian âa. Doublet of ala, which was a borrowing.

Noun

á f (plural ás)

  1. (archaic, chiefly in the plural) wing
Synonyms

References

  • “aa” in Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval.

Spanish

Preposition

á

  1. Obsolete spelling of a

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Noun

á

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Ă/ă.

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