an

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Some may call it an unnatural interest in an unpleasant subject and they may be right.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. indefinite article The form of a used before words beginning with a vowel or with an unpronounced h: an elephant; an hour. See Usage Notes at a2, every.
  2. Word History
    The forms of the indefinite article are good examples of what can happen to a word when it becomes habitually pronounced without stress. An is in fact a weakened form of one; both an and one come from Old English ān "one.” In early Middle English, besides representing the cardinal numeral "one,” ān developed the special function of indefinite article, and in this role the word was ordinarily pronounced with very little or no stress. Sound changes that affected unstressed syllables elsewhere in the language affected it also. First, the vowel was shortened and eventually reduced to a schwa (ə). Second, the n was lost before consonants. This loss of n affected some other words as well; it explains why English has both my and mine, thy and thine. Originally these were doublets just like a and an, with mine and thine occurring only before vowels, as in Ben Jonson's famous line "Drink to me only with thine eyes.” By the time of Modern English, though, my and thy had replaced mine and thine when used before nouns (that is, when not used predicatively, as in This book is mine), just as some varieties of Modern English use a even before vowels (a apple).
  3. conjunction Archaic And if; if.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples

  • Some may call it an unnatural interest in an unpleasant subject and they may be right. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IV No 1
  • Paul Jennings, who writes a column for The Guardian called "Oddly Enough," provided a valuable source for onomasticians in an (undated) article on English place names. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VII No 2
  • Whether it had been due to a random failure, or a loss of tolerance, there was nothing that could be done. —  The Lost Worlds of 2001
  • Chang'an Street: (Chang'an is Chinese for 'Long Peace ') a major avenue running close to Tiananmen Square that has witnessed important historical events due to its centrality, and that traditionally is the location for military parades in Beijing. —  WordPress.com Top Blogs
  • The family called the police late Saturday night. —  Pop Goes The Weasel
 

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An has been looked up 475 times, favorited 0 times, listed 15 times, and commented on once.

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Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old English ān, one; see oi-no- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English, short for and, and, from Old English; see and.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. A reduced form of and, existing from the earliest Middle English period, and often then so written; but in modern literature an for and copulative is admitted only in representations of dialectal or ‘vulgar’ speech, and is then usually printed an'. In conversation, however, though not in formal speech, the d is generally dropped, especially before a word beginning with a consonant, and the vowel may be weakened to the point of vanishing. An' for and, if, is archaic in literature, and is generally printed an, in distinction from and copulative.
  2. Middle English an, from Anglo-Saxon an, the orig. form of the usual Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and modern English on; as a prefix an-, usually on-; in reduced form, a, prefix a-: see on, an-, a, a-.
 

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/æn/
by American Heritage
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne

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