an.

in the year.

[ < L anno]

* * *

abbrev

1. Anno (Latin), in the year

2. Anonymous

3. Ante (Latin), before

* * *

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.