an

Article

an (indefinite)

1. Form of a (all article senses).
   1. Used before a vowel sound.

      I'll be there in half an hour.

      'E's staying at an 'otel. (compare He's staying at a hotel.)

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

        Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

      • 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The Beginning”, in The Vantage Point‎, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12:

        I was catapulted without preparation into the most difficult job any mortal man can hold. My duties would not wait a week, or a day, or even an hour.

   2. (now quite rare) Used before one and words with initial ⟨u⟩, ⟨eu⟩ when pronounced /ju/.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:8:

        God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

      • (Can we date this quote?), John Mackay Wilson, Wilson's Tales of the Borders; Historical, Traditionary, and Imaginative‎, →OCLC, page 84:

        My hopes, from my earliest years, have been hopes of celebrity as a writer- not of wealth, or of influence, or of accomplishing any of the thousand aims which furnish the great bulk of mankind with motives. You will laugh at me. There is something so emphatically shadowy and unreal in the object of this ambition, that even the full attainment of its provokes a smile. For who does not know
        'How vain that second life in others' breath,
        The estate which wits inherit after death!'
        And what can be more fraught with the ludicrous than an union of this shadowy ambition with mediocre parts and attainments! But I digress.

      • 2010 March 22, Paul Taylor, “Greece Debates Revive Old European Fears and Resentments”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-04-03, Inside Europe:

        President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is open to an European monetary fund but would want it to raise money cheaply on capital markets and lend it to needy euro-zone countries before they faced possible default.

      • 2021 April 13, Neil Vigdor, “Hank Aaron’s Name Will Replace a Confederate General’s on an Atlanta School”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on April 14, 2021, U.S.‎:

        In an unanimous vote on Monday, the city’s school board approved removing the name of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from Forrest Hill Academy and calling the alternative school the Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy.

      • 2024 February 14, Lawrence O'Donnell, 0:29 from the start, in Lawrence: Jack Smith asks SCOTUS to move fast on Trump. Nixon case is proof they can.‎, MSNBC, archived from the original on February 15, 2024:

        Having been given seven full days, Jack Smith took exactly one day to file a forty-page response in opposition, to the Supreme Court, making the argument that there was no reason for the Supreme Court to hear Donald Trump's appeal of an unanimous opinion by the second most important court in the country, the Washington, D.C., Federal Court of Appeals, which supported the trial judge's ruling that there is no such thing as immunity from criminal prosecution for former presidents.

      • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:an.
   3. (nonstandard) Used before /h/ in a stressed or unstressed syllable.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 40:1–2:

        1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined vnto me, and heard my crie.
        2 He brought me vp also out of an horrible pit, out of the mirie clay, and set my feete vpon a rock, and established my goings.

      • 1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World‎, 3rd edition, →OCLC, page 441:

        The Province of Nanking, by the Tartars called Kiangnan, is the ſecond in honour, in magnitude and fertility in all China : It is divided into 14 great Territories, having Cities and Towns an hundred and ten; Nanking, or Kiangning being the Metropolis; a City, that if ſhe did not exceed moſt Cities on the Earth in bigneſs and beauty, yet ſhe was inferior to few, for her Pagodes, her Temples, her Porcelane Towers, her Palaces and Triumphal Arches. Fungiang, Sucheu, Sunkiang, Leucheu, Hoaigan, Ganking, Ningue, Hoeicheu, are alſo eminent places, and of great Note and Trade.

      • 1953, Mao Tse-tung, “Mao Tse-tung's Tribute to Stalin”, in Current Soviet Policies‎, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, →ISSN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 254:

        Following the doctrine of Lenin and Stalin, relying on the support of the great Soviet state and all the revolutionary forces of all countries, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people gained an historic victory a few years ago.

      • 1972 May 28, 3:30 from the start, in President Nixon addresses the Soviet People live from the Kremlin‎, spoken by Richard Nixon, archived from the original on 22 December 2015:

        We have agreed on joint ventures in space. We have agreed on ways of working together to protect the environment, to advance health, to cooperate in science and technology. We have agreed on means of preventing incidents at sea. We have established a commission to expand trade between our two nations. Most important, we have taken an historic first step in the limitation of nuclear strategic arms.

      • 2022 June 29, David Pakman, 0:00 from the start, in Trump Assaulted Secret Service Agent, Smeared Ketchup on Wall‎, archived from the original on 30 June 2022:

        Well yesterday was an historic day. Uh, there was last minute testimony scheduled in the January 6th committee from a former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.

   4. (nonstandard, British, West Country) Used before all consonants.

Numeral

an

1. (nonstandard, British, West Country) one

References

Conjunction

an

1. (archaic) If
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     […] An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

   • 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

     Thereupon, quoth he, "O woman, for sundry days I have seen thee attend the levée sans a word said; so tell me an thou have any requirement I may grant."

2. (archaic) So long as.

   An it harm none, do what ye will.

3. (archaic) As if; as though.
   • 1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:
     (original version), lines 61–64:

     At length did cross an Albatross,
     Thorough the Fog it came;
     And an it were a Christian Soul,
     We hail'd it in God's Name.

Noun

an (plural ans)

1. The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, ა (Mkhedruli), Ⴀ (Asomtavruli) or ⴀ (Nuskhuri).

Preposition

an

1. In each; to or for each; per.

   I was only going twenty miles an hour.

References

• “an”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

See also

• ne (“to be”)

Declension

Related terms

• anë

Related terms

• antsãrtsu / antserts

Declension

Derived terms

• hər anda
• anlıq

Particle

an (Basahan spelling ᜀᜈ᜔)

1. direct marker for all general nouns other than personal proper nouns

   Nagdalagan an lalaki pasiring sa baybayon.

   The man ran towards the shore.

   Kinakan kan ikos an sira. (Naga)

   Kinaon kan ikos an sira. (Legazpi)

   The cat ate the fish.

Pronoun

'an (Basahan spelling ᜀᜈ᜔)

1. Clipping of iyan.

Noun

an m (plural ans)

1. year

Preposition

an

1. in

Pronoun

an

1. used to indicate an indefinite quantity, of it, of them

   J'an veus deus

   I want two of them

   J'an seus seur

   I am sure of it

Related terms

Declension

Derived terms

• vònname
• vònnara

Declension

Declension

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈan]

Adverb

an

1. on (only used in lexicalized expressions)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈæˀn]

Verb

an

1. imperative of ane

Derived terms

• anâ

Derived terms

Related terms

• année

Determiner

an (singular)

1. (possessive) Alternative form of am (my).

Pronoun

an

1. second person singular emphatic pronoun you

Dialectal variants

• aan (Pulaar)

References

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.
• Ritsuko Miyamoto (1993) “A Study of Fula Dialects : Examining the Continuous/Stative Constructions”, in Senri Ethnological Studies‎, volume 35, →DOI, pages 215-230

Usage notes

• Usually used to refer to something being on a vertical surface, as opposed to auf, which usually points to a horizontal surface.
• When followed by the masculine/neuter definite article in the dative case (i.e. dem (“the”)), the two words generally contract to am (“on the”) if not emphasized.
• When followed by the neuter definite article in the accusative case (i.e. das (“the”)), the two words generally contract to ans (“on the”) if not emphasized.

Declension

Indeclinable, predicative-only.

Derived terms

• an- (prefix)
• (an + dem) am
• (an + das) ans
• anhin
• wohlan, wolan

Article

an

1. the (definite article)

Noun

an

1. year

Derived terms

• dorso an dorso (“back to back”)
• an-

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ənˠ/, (between consonants) /ə/, (before a/á, o/ó, u/ú) /ə.n̪ˠ-/, (before e/é, i/í) /ə.n̠ʲ-/

Article

an

1. the

   an t-uisce ― the water

   an bhean ― the woman

   an pháiste ― of the child

   ag an gcailín/chailín ― at the girl

Pronunciation

• (preverbal particle): IPA^(key): (before a consonant) /ə/, (before a/á, o/ó, u/ú) /ə.nˠ-/, (before e/é, i/í) /ə.n̠ʲ-/
• (copular particle): IPA^(key): /ənˠ/, (before é, ea, í, iad) /ə.n̠ʲ-/

Particle

an (triggers eclipsis; takes the dependent form of irregular verbs if available; not used in the past tense except of some irregular verbs)

1. Used to form direct and indirect questions

   An bhfuil tú ag éisteacht? ― Are you listening?

   Níl a fhios agam an bhfuil sé anseo. ― I don’t know if/whether he is here.

Particle

an

1. used to introduce copular questions, both direct and indirect, in the present/future tense

   An maith leat bainne? ― Do you like milk?

   Níl a fhios agam an é Conchúr a chonaic mé. ― I don’t know if it’s Connor whom I saw.

Verb

an (present analytic anann, future analytic anfaidh, verbal noun anacht, past participle anta)

1. (transitive, intransitive) Alternative form of fan (“stay, wait, remain”)

Particle

an

1. Alternative form of a (used before numbers when counting)

Noun

an (plural an dem, quantified an)

1. (anatomy) hand
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Maak 3:5:

     So im se tu di man se, “Chrech out yu an.” Di man chrech out im an, an im an get beta.

     Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and his hand was healed.

Conjunction

an

1. and
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Aks 15:35:

     Bot Paal an Baanabas tan a Antiyak an tiich an priich Gad wod. An nof muor tiicha an priicha did iina di choch.

     But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, and taught and proclaimed the word of God along with many others.

Usage notes

• Used with utrum (“whether”) in the construction utrum...an (“whether...or”):

  Nescio quid intersit, utrum nunc veniam, an ad decem annos.

  I know not what matter it is, whether I come now or after ten years.

Derived terms

Inflection

Neither the spelling nor grammar of these forms applies to all, or even necessarily the majority, of dialects.

Conjunction

an

1. and

Preposition

an

1. in

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Article

an

1. a, an (indefinite article):
   • p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:

     Þu myhteſ faren al a dæiſ fare ſculdeſt thu neure finden man in tun ſittende · ne land tiled.

     You could go a whole day's journey, but you'd never find anyone in town or any tilled fields.

   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Prologe of the Tale of the Wẏf of Bathe”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 63, verso, lines 438-440:

     And but ye do / c[er]teyn we shal yow teche / that it is fair / to han a wyf in pees / Oon of vs two / moſte bowen doutelees

     And unless you do, we'll certainly teach you / that it's fair to have a wife in peace; / one of the two of us must without doubt submit.

   1. Any example or instance of a thing.
   2. A certain or particular thing.
   3. Any, every; several or all instances of a thing.
2. Used in conjunction with numerals (especially hundred, thousend)

Preposition

an

1. Alternative form of in

Conjunction

an

1. Alternative form of and

Numeral

an

1. Alternative form of oon

Verb

an

1. Alternative form of haven

Descendants

• French: an

Derived terms

• van

Synonyms

• année

Derived terms

• Jour dé l'An (“New Year's Day”)
• Nouvel An (“New Year”)
• tchu d'l'an (“last day of the year”)

Noun

an m (plural ans)

1. year

Verb

an

1. third-person plural present indicative of aver