an

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“
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.

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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.

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Examples (50)

  • 654. From the Greek word an ant;’ according to this version of the story EXPLANATION This fable, perhaps, has no other foundation than the retreat of the subjects of Æacus into woods and caverns, whence they returned, when the contagion had ceased with which their country had been afflicted and when he had nearly lost all hopes of seeing them again. —  The Metamorphoses of Ovid Vol. I, Books I-VII
  • Then he saw Voltaire's prose tales in four volumes, in French,--an enchanting Didot edition, with ink as black as Hades and paper as white as snow; also bound in full calf. —  Clayhanger
  • What an--an inebriating effect, if I may use the word without offence to the late lamented poet, would be added to the cup that cheers by the thought that the same handle, the same spout, the same--er--er--furry deposit in the inside, have ministered to the refreshment of one of the master spirits of our day! —  A College Girl
  • As to inflection, we see in Latin an adjective and a substantive standing together, yet differing in gender, in number, or in case; and we know that the adjective does not qualify the substantive. —  "Stops", Or How to Punctuate A Practical Handbook for Writers and Students
  • She looks like an--an angel Isabel could not at once suppress the gratified note which crept of itself into her voice That's the outside o' the cup an' platter," she said knowingly. —  Tiverton Tales
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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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