"-an" meaning in English

See -an in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Suffix

Etymology: From Middle English -an, regularly -ain, -ein, -en, from Old French -ain, -ein, or before i, -en (modern French -ain, -en, feminine -aine, -enne), from Latin -ānus (feminine -āna), which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun, being -nus [cognate with Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)] preceded by a vowel, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós. Cognate with English -en. Compare with -in, -ine. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|-an}} Middle English -an, {{m|enm|-ain}} -ain, {{m|enm|-ein}} -ein, {{m|enm|-en}} -en, {{der|en|fro|-ain}} Old French -ain, {{m|fro|-ein}} -ein, {{m|fro|-en}} -en, {{cog|fr|-ain}} French -ain, {{m|fr|-en}} -en, {{m|fr|-aine}} -aine, {{m|fr|-enne}} -enne, {{der|en|la|-ānus}} Latin -ānus, {{m|la|-āna}} -āna, {{m|la|-nus}} -nus, {{cog|grc|-νος}} Ancient Greek -νος (-nos), {{der|en|ine-pro|*-nós}} Proto-Indo-European *-nós, {{cog|en|-en}} English -en, {{m|en|-in}} -in, {{m|en|-ine}} -ine Head templates: {{head|en|suffix|cat2=adjective-forming suffixes|cat3=noun-forming suffixes|head=|id=}} -an, {{en-suffix|cat2=adjective-forming suffixes|cat3=noun-forming suffixes}} -an
  1. Of or pertaining to; an adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. (Often added to words of Latin origin, but also used with words of other origins. When a word ends in a, -n is used instead.) Tags: morpheme Translations (of or pertaining to): ـِيّ (-iyy) (Arabic), (Catalan), -ský (Czech), -lainen (Finnish), -läinen (Finnish), -an [masculine] (Galician), -á [feminine] (Galician), -isch (German), -i (Hungarian), -s (Hungarian), -an- (Ido), -an (Interlingua), -ano (Italian), -ānus (Latin), -ão [masculine] (Portuguese), -ano [masculine] (Portuguese), -ana [feminine] (Portuguese), -ano (Spanish), -sk (Swedish), -isk (Swedish)
    Sense id: en--an-en-suffix-Inp-WrmW Categories (other): English links with redundant target parameters, English links with redundant wikilinks Synonyms: -al, -ar, -ese, -esque, -ic, -id, -ish, -like, -oid, -ous, -y Disambiguation of 'of or pertaining to': 100 0
  2. Appended to nouns to form an agent noun. (When males with a profession are distinguished from females, males are -an, females -(i)enne.) Tags: morpheme Translations (agent noun suffix): -ász (Hungarian), -ész (Hungarian), -ikus (Hungarian), -ano [masculine] (Interlingua), -ana [feminine] (Interlingua)
    Sense id: en--an-en-suffix-9L0vljv5 Disambiguation of 'agent noun suffix': 35 65
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: -ian (alt: euphonic variant, also spelled -aean or -æan), -n (english: when added to a word ending in a)

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for -an meaning in English (6.5kB)

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-an"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -an",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "-ain",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-ein"
      },
      "expansion": "-ein",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -ain",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-ein"
      },
      "expansion": "-ein",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "French -ain",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-aine"
      },
      "expansion": "-aine",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-enne"
      },
      "expansion": "-enne",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ānus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ānus",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-āna"
      },
      "expansion": "-āna",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-nus"
      },
      "expansion": "-nus",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "-νος"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*-nós"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-nós",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "English -en",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-in"
      },
      "expansion": "-in",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-ine"
      },
      "expansion": "-ine",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English -an, regularly -ain, -ein, -en, from Old French -ain, -ein, or before i, -en (modern French -ain, -en, feminine -aine, -enne), from Latin -ānus (feminine -āna), which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun, being -nus [cognate with Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)] preceded by a vowel, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós. Cognate with English -en. Compare with -in, -ine.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "adjective-forming suffixes",
        "cat3": "noun-forming suffixes",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-an",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "cat2": "adjective-forming suffixes",
        "cat3": "noun-forming suffixes"
      },
      "expansion": "-an",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with redundant target parameters",
          "parents": [
            "Links with redundant target parameters",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with redundant wikilinks",
          "parents": [
            "Links with redundant wikilinks",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Rome + -an → Roman",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to; an adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. (Often added to words of Latin origin, but also used with words of other origins. When a word ends in a, -n is used instead.)"
      ],
      "id": "en--an-en-suffix-Inp-WrmW",
      "links": [
        [
          "-n",
          "-n#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "-al"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ar"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ese"
        },
        {
          "word": "-esque"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ic"
        },
        {
          "word": "-id"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ish"
        },
        {
          "word": "-like"
        },
        {
          "word": "-oid"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ous"
        },
        {
          "word": "-y"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "-iyy",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "ـِيّ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-à"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-ský"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-lainen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-läinen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "-an"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "-á"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-isch"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-i"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-s"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "io",
          "lang": "Ido",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-an-"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-an"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-ano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-ānus"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "-ão"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "-ano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "-ana"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-ano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-sk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "of or pertaining to",
          "word": "-isk"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "comedy + -an → comedian",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "history + -an → historian",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Appended to nouns to form an agent noun. (When males with a profession are distinguished from females, males are -an, females -(i)enne.)"
      ],
      "id": "en--an-en-suffix-9L0vljv5",
      "links": [
        [
          "agent noun",
          "agent noun#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "35 65",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "agent noun suffix",
          "word": "-ász"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "35 65",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "agent noun suffix",
          "word": "-ész"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "35 65",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "agent noun suffix",
          "word": "-ikus"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "35 65",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "agent noun suffix",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "-ano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "35 65",
          "code": "ia",
          "lang": "Interlingua",
          "sense": "agent noun suffix",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "-ana"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "alt": "euphonic variant, also spelled -aean or -æan",
      "word": "-ian"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "when added to a word ending in a",
      "word": "-n"
    }
  ],
  "word": "-an"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjective-forming suffixes",
    "English lemmas",
    "English noun-forming suffixes",
    "English suffixes",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-an"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -an",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "-ain",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-ein"
      },
      "expansion": "-ein",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French -ain",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-ein"
      },
      "expansion": "-ein",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-ain"
      },
      "expansion": "French -ain",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "-en",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-aine"
      },
      "expansion": "-aine",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "-enne"
      },
      "expansion": "-enne",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-ānus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin -ānus",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-āna"
      },
      "expansion": "-āna",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "-nus"
      },
      "expansion": "-nus",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "-νος"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*-nós"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *-nós",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "English -en",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-in"
      },
      "expansion": "-in",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-ine"
      },
      "expansion": "-ine",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English -an, regularly -ain, -ein, -en, from Old French -ain, -ein, or before i, -en (modern French -ain, -en, feminine -aine, -enne), from Latin -ānus (feminine -āna), which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun, being -nus [cognate with Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)] preceded by a vowel, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós. Cognate with English -en. Compare with -in, -ine.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "suffix",
        "cat2": "adjective-forming suffixes",
        "cat3": "noun-forming suffixes",
        "head": "",
        "id": ""
      },
      "expansion": "-an",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "cat2": "adjective-forming suffixes",
        "cat3": "noun-forming suffixes"
      },
      "expansion": "-an",
      "name": "en-suffix"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "suffix",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English links with redundant target parameters",
        "English links with redundant wikilinks"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Rome + -an → Roman",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to; an adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. (Often added to words of Latin origin, but also used with words of other origins. When a word ends in a, -n is used instead.)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "-n",
          "-n#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "-al"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ar"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ese"
        },
        {
          "word": "-esque"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ic"
        },
        {
          "word": "-id"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ish"
        },
        {
          "word": "-like"
        },
        {
          "word": "-oid"
        },
        {
          "word": "-ous"
        },
        {
          "word": "-y"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "comedy + -an → comedian",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "history + -an → historian",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Appended to nouns to form an agent noun. (When males with a profession are distinguished from females, males are -an, females -(i)enne.)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "agent noun",
          "agent noun#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "alt": "euphonic variant, also spelled -aean or -æan",
      "word": "-ian"
    },
    {
      "english": "when added to a word ending in a",
      "word": "-n"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "-iyy",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "ـِيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-à"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-ský"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-lainen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-läinen"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "-an"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "-á"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-isch"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-i"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-s"
    },
    {
      "code": "io",
      "lang": "Ido",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-an-"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-an"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-ano"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-ānus"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "-ão"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "-ano"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "-ana"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-ano"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-sk"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "of or pertaining to",
      "word": "-isk"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "agent noun suffix",
      "word": "-ász"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "agent noun suffix",
      "word": "-ész"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "agent noun suffix",
      "word": "-ikus"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "agent noun suffix",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "-ano"
    },
    {
      "code": "ia",
      "lang": "Interlingua",
      "sense": "agent noun suffix",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "-ana"
    }
  ],
  "word": "-an"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). 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.