-an

suffix (also -ean, -ian) forming adjectives and nouns, esp. from names of places, systems, zoological classes or orders, and founders (Mexican; Anglican; crustacean; European; Lutheran; Georgian; theologian).
Etymology: ult. f. L adj. endings -(i)anus, -aeus: cf. Gk -aios, -eios

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an¹ «an; unstressed uhn», adjective or indefinite article.

1. a) any: »

Is there an apple for me? An oak has acorns. Please give me an answer.

b) one like; another (before proper names or nouns used as the type of a class): »

an Elijah in modern dress. She is an angel among women.

2. one: »

My mother needs an ounce of butter.

3. each; every: »

John earns fifty cents an hour.

4. a) the same: »

two desks to an office.

b) a particular: »

It was too awful an accident to describe.

c) one kind of: »

Painting is an art.

d) a certain; some: »

an occasion for concern, an enormous number of pigeons.

5. a single: »

not an ounce of hope.

╂[Middle English an (unstressed form before vowels) < Old English ān one]

Usage In modern Standard English the form of the indefinite article is a before a word beginning with a consonant sound and an before a word beginning with a vowel sound: a horse, a man, a union, but an answer, an hour. Note that one's choice is determined by the initial sound, not by the spelling. Usage varies before words beginning with h in an unstressed syllable, like historical or hotel, where, because the h is commonly silent or weakly articulated, many use an. In Great Britain an is occasionally used before words like united and euphonious, which begin with the sound of «y». See a² for another usage note. (Cf. ↑a)

an², an' «an; unstressed uhn», conjunction.

1. Dialect or Informal. and.

2. Archaic. if.

╂[reduction of and]

an-¹,

prefix.

1. not: »

Anastigmatic = not astigmatic.

2. without: »

Anhydrous = without water.

Also, a- (before consonant sounds except h).

╂[< Greek an- not, without]

an-²,

prefix. the form of ad- (Cf. ↑ad-) before n, as in annex.

an-³,

prefix. the form of ana- (Cf. ↑ana-) before vowels, as in anode.

-an,

suffix used to form adjectives and nouns, especially from proper nouns.

1. of or having to do with _____: »

Mohammedan = of or having to do with Mohammed.

2. of or having to do with _____ or its people: »

Asian = of or having to do with Asia or its people.

3. a native or inhabitant of _____: »

American = a native or inhabitant of America.

4. person who knows much about or is skilled in _____: »

Historian = a person who knows much about history. Magician = a person skilled in magic.

Also, -ian, -ean.

╂[< Latin -ānus]

an.,

in the year (Latin, anno).

An (no period),

actinon (isotope of radon).

AN (no periods), AN., or A.N.,

Anglo-Norman.

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(also -ean or -ian) suffix

1) forming adjectives and nouns esp. from

■ names of places

Ohioan | Russian

■ names of systems

Anglican | Presbyterian

■ names of zoological classes or orders

crustacean

■ names of founders or leaders when referring to them as sources

Chomskyan | Lutheran

2) Chemistry forming names of organic compounds, chiefly polysaccharides

dextran

•

Origin:

based on Latin -(i)anus, -aeus, adjectival endings

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I

(or -ian also -ean) noun suffix

: someone or something that belongs to

American [=a person who lives in or is from America]

Bostonian [=a person who lives in or is from Boston]

———————— II

(or -ian also -ean) adj suffix

1 : of or belonging to

American

2 : characteristic of : resembling

Herculean [=resembling Hercules]

Mozartean [=characteristic of or resembling Mozart]

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-an [-an] -ana

» ↑-ian, » ↑-iana

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-an, suffix

I. Derivative.

1. repr. L. -ānus, -āna, -ānum ‘of, or belonging to’; as castellān-us, oppidān-us, pāgān-us, urbān-us, silvān-us, Africān-us, Rōmān-us, Sullān-us, Justiniān-us. In OFr. this became -ain, or (after i) -en, as chastelain, Romain, payen, Italien; and so originally adopted in ME., but subseq. refashioned after L. as -an, and so in all words formed in Eng. direct, or adopted from the mod. langs. (It. Sp. Pg. -ano, Fr. -ain, -en.). Esp. added to proper names; ‘belonging to a place’ as American, Chilean, Russian, Oxonian; ‘following a founder,’ as Arminian, Lutheran, Muhammadan, Linnæan, or ‘a system,’ as Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Anglican, Gallican; and, in Zoology, to names of divisions, ‘belonging to a class or order,’ as mammalian, reptilian, crustacean, arachnidan, acalephan. Primarily these are all adjs., but as in L. etc., all may be used subst., and with some this is the more frequent use. The zoological words supply singulars to the collective plurals in -a, as a crustacean = a member of the Crustacea. Already in L. this termination was often added to others, to -i-us so commonly that -iānus, -ian, is in use merely a euphonic variety of -an; cf. Corinth-i-an, Rom-an, Christ-i-an, Muhammad-an.

2. in Chem. for -ane, arbitrary ending proposed by Davy for names of chlorides containing one atom of chlorine, as in azotan obs. In some words -an is a meaningless formative as allox-an.

† II. Inflexional.

1. In OE., ending of oblique cases, and nom. pl. of weak declension. Both became in ME. -en, now rarely preserved in pl., as ox-en:—OE. ox-an. Hence (dat. or loc. sing.) in advb. or prep. forms like ut-an, abut-an, befor-an, ME. uten, abuten, and ute, abute. Now obs.

2. In OE., ending of pres. inf. of vbs., levelled in ME. to -en, -e, and now lost, as OE. writ-an, send-an; ME. writ-e(n, send-e(n; mod. write, send.