"-a-" meaning in English

See -a- in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Conjunction

Etymology: From earlier a (attested by the 14th c.), as a contraction of and and its various Middle English forms. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|-}} Middle English Head templates: {{head|en|conjunction}} -a-
  1. And Synonyms: an', n'
    Sense id: en--a--en-conj-D2dRS5Ad
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Infix

Etymology: From French à (“various prepositions”) and related prepositions in other Romance languages. Also from related misunderstandings, as all-a-mort from French à la morte. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|à||various prepositions}} French à (“various prepositions”), {{cog|roa|-}} Romance, {{cog|fr|à la morte}} French à la morte Head templates: {{head|en|infix}} -a-
  1. Connective infix encountered in loanwords and phrases, generally no longer carrying a distinct meaning. Tags: morpheme Synonyms: à, -à- Derived forms: all-a-mort, mano-a-mano, vis-a-vis
    Sense id: en--a--en-infix-gpoolct0 Categories (other): English infixes Disambiguation of English infixes: 5 44 8 20 23
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 3

Infix

Head templates: {{head|en|infix}} -a-
  1. (chemistry) Replacing carbon, especially in a ring. Tags: morpheme Categories (topical): Chemistry
    Sense id: en--a--en-infix-2vTLLBdX Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 4

Infix

Etymology: The vowel of rat. Head templates: {{head|en|infix}} -a-
  1. (pharmacology) A monoclonal antibody derived from a rat. Tags: morpheme Categories (topical): Pharmacology, Medicine Related terms: -mab is the base suffix common to all monoclonal antibodies
    Sense id: en--a--en-infix-V69iC6Lr Disambiguation of Medicine: 0 18 0 65 18 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 18 12 39 20 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 10 18 12 34 26 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 10 20 10 37 23 Topics: medicine, pharmacology, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 5

Interfix

Etymology: From of a (as in half-a-crown) or of (as in jack-a-napes from Middle English Jak of Naples). Some terms have fully incorporated the use, as ragamuffin and jackanape(s); others arise from mistaken assimilation to the form, as all-a-gog and cock-a-leekie. Etymology templates: {{cog|enm|Jak}} Middle English Jak Head templates: {{head|en|interfix}} -a-
  1. Connective interfix used in forming compounds, often no longer carrying a distinct meaning. Tags: morpheme Synonyms: o' Derived forms: cock-a-hoop, cock-a-leekie, half-a-crown, jack-a-dandy, jack-a-lantern, Jack-a-Lent, jack-a-napes, jackanape, John-a-dreams, ragamuffin
    Sense id: en--a--en-interfix-EUv5ygCi Categories (other): English interfixes
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Download JSON data for -a- meaning in English (5.4kB)

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  "etymology_number": 1,
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      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "Jak"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English Jak",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From of a (as in half-a-crown) or of (as in jack-a-napes from Middle English Jak of Naples). Some terms have fully incorporated the use, as ragamuffin and jackanape(s); others arise from mistaken assimilation to the form, as all-a-gog and cock-a-leekie.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English interfixes",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
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        {
          "word": "cock-a-hoop"
        },
        {
          "word": "cock-a-leekie"
        },
        {
          "word": "half-a-crown"
        },
        {
          "word": "jack-a-dandy"
        },
        {
          "word": "jack-a-lantern"
        },
        {
          "word": "Jack-a-Lent"
        },
        {
          "word": "jack-a-napes"
        },
        {
          "word": "jackanape"
        },
        {
          "word": "John-a-dreams"
        },
        {
          "word": "ragamuffin"
        }
      ],
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        "Connective interfix used in forming compounds, often no longer carrying a distinct meaning."
      ],
      "id": "en--a--en-interfix-EUv5ygCi",
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        }
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      ]
    }
  ],
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}

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          "ref": "1746, Exmoor Scolding, 3rd edition, section 81",
          "text": "Chem a laced well-a-fine aread",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
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          "and"
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        }
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}

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        "5": "various prepositions"
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      "name": "bor"
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        "2": "à la morte"
      },
      "expansion": "French à la morte",
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  "etymology_text": "From French à (“various prepositions”) and related prepositions in other Romance languages. Also from related misunderstandings, as all-a-mort from French à la morte.",
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          "word": "vis-a-vis"
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{
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          "parents": [
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        "(chemistry) Replacing carbon, especially in a ring."
      ],
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        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences"
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}

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        "A monoclonal antibody derived from a rat."
      ],
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          "pharmacology"
        ],
        [
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        ],
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          "rat",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(pharmacology) A monoclonal antibody derived from a rat."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "-mab is the base suffix common to all monoclonal antibodies"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
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      "word": "cock-a-hoop"
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    {
      "word": "cock-a-leekie"
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    {
      "word": "half-a-crown"
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    {
      "word": "jack-a-dandy"
    },
    {
      "word": "jack-a-lantern"
    },
    {
      "word": "Jack-a-Lent"
    },
    {
      "word": "jack-a-napes"
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    {
      "word": "jackanape"
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    {
      "word": "John-a-dreams"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From of a (as in half-a-crown) or of (as in jack-a-napes from Middle English Jak of Naples). Some terms have fully incorporated the use, as ragamuffin and jackanape(s); others arise from mistaken assimilation to the form, as all-a-gog and cock-a-leekie.",
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        "Connective interfix used in forming compounds, often no longer carrying a distinct meaning."
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        }
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          "text": "Chem a laced well-a-fine aread",
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    }
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}

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        "(chemistry) Replacing carbon, especially in a ring."
      ],
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{
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    "en:Medicine"
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        "(pharmacology) A monoclonal antibody derived from a rat."
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}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-27 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (bb24e0f and c7ea76d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.