on

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It has a couple of small niggles (the file manager that appears every damn power-on, the pidgin English on-screen displays and it's too easy to activate the motor), but it seems pretty good value on the whole.

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Definitions (117)

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  1. preposition Used to indicate position above and supported by or in contact with: The vase is on the table. We rested on our hands and knees.
  2. preposition Used to indicate contact with or extent over (a surface) regardless of position: a picture on the wall; a rash on my back.
  3. preposition Used to indicate location at or along: the pasture on the south side of the river; a house on the highway.

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This word has been looked up 234 times.

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Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English an, on; see an- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English on, also an (rare except in comp., and in the earliest Middle English), also reduced a, o (see a, o), from Anglo-Saxon on, rarely an = Old Saxon an = OFries. an = Middle Dutch aen, Dutch aan = Middle Low German Low German an = Old High German ana, Middle High German ane, an, German an = Icelandic ā = Swedish å = Old Danish aa (in Danish paa for *up-aa = English up-on) = Gothic (Moesogothic) ana, on, upon, = Greek ἀνά, up, upon, etc. (see ana-), = Old Bulgarian na = Russian na = Irish ana, ann, an = Sanskrit anu, along, over, toward, on, in; closely related to in (= Greek ἐν, etc.): see in, in. Cf. on-. The word had in Anglo-Saxon a wider use than in English, being to a great extent commonly used for both ‘on’ and ‘in.’ Hence, in comp., upon and onto.
  2. from on, adv.
  3. from Icelandic ōn, aon, usually ān, modern ān = Old Saxon āno = Middle Dutch an, on = OFries. āne, ōni, ōne, an = Old High German āno, Middle High German āne, ān, German ohne, without; akin to Gothic (Moesogothic) inu, without, Greek ἂνευ, without, and to the negative prefix un-: see un-.
 

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/ɑn/
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