an en · DET · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US, stressed, æ-tensing) audio
- [ˈæn] (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
- [ˈeən] (US)
- (UK, unstressed) audio
- [ˈan] (British, Southern, Standard)
- [ˈɛən] (US)
- [ˈæ(ː)n] (Canada)
- /ən/ (unstressed)
- [ˈɛən] (Canada)
- /ˈæn/ stressed form
- (UK, stressed) audio
- (US, unstressed) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Germanic *ainaz Proto-West Germanic *ain Old English ān Middle English an English an From Middle English an, from Old English ān (“a, an”, literally “one”). More at one.
Meanings
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(indefinite) Form of a (all article senses). ▸ Used before a vowel sound.
'E's staying at an 'otel. (compare He's staying at a hotel.)
I was catapulted without preparation into the most difficult job any mortal man can hold. My duties would not wait a week, or a day, or even an hour.
1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The Beginning”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12:Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:I'll be there in half an hour.
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(indefinite) Form of a (all article senses). ▸ Used before /h/ in a stressed or unstressed syllable.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined vnto me, and heard my crie. 2 He brought me vp also out of an horrible pit, out of the mirie clay, and set my feete vpon a rock, and established my goings.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 40:1–2:We have agreed on joint ventures in space. We have agreed on ways of working together to protect the environment, to advance health, to cooperate in science and technology. We have agreed on means of preventing incidents at sea. We have established a commission to expand trade between our two nations. Most important, we have taken an historic first step in the limitation of nuclear strategic arms.
1972 May 28, 3:30 from the start, in President Nixon addresses the Soviet People live from the Kremlin, spoken by Richard Nixon, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2015:Following the doctrine of Lenin and Stalin, relying on the support of the great Soviet state and all the revolutionary forces of all countries, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people gained an historic victory a few years ago.
1953, Mao Tse-tung, “Mao Tse-tung's Tribute to Stalin”, in Current Soviet Policies, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, →ISSN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 254:This is an historic honor which matches the weight of our times.
2025 May 26, Mark Carney, 0:21 from the start, in King Charles in Canada: Why this isn't just any royal visit, CBC:Well yesterday was an historic day. Uh, there was last minute testimony scheduled in the January 6th committee from a former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.
2022 June 29, David Pakman, 0:00 from the start, in Trump Assaulted Secret Service Agent, Smeared Ketchup on Wall, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2022:The Province of Nanking, by the Tartars called Kiangnan, is the ſecond in honour, in magnitude and fertility in all China : It is divided into 14 great Territories, having Cities and Towns an hundred and ten; Nanking, or Kiangning being the Metropolis; a City, that if ſhe did not exceed moſt Cities on the Earth in bigneſs and beauty, yet ſhe was inferior to few, for her Pagodes, her Temples, her Porcelane Towers, her Palaces and Triumphal Arches. Fungiang, Sucheu, Sunkiang, Leucheu, Hoaigan, Ganking, Ningue, Hoeicheu, are alſo eminent places, and of great Note and Trade.
1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World, 3rd edition, →OCLC, page 441:
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(indefinite, rare) Form of a (all article senses). ▸ Used before one and words with initial ⟨u⟩, ⟨eu⟩ when pronounced /ju/.
My hopes, from my earliest years, have been hopes of celebrity as a writer- not of wealth, or of influence, or of accomplishing any of the thousand aims which furnish the great bulk of mankind with motives. You will laugh at me. There is something so emphatically shadowy and unreal in the object of this ambition, that even the full attainment of its provokes a smile. For who does not know 'How vain that second life in others' breath, The estate which wits inherit after death!' And what can be more fraught with the ludicrous than an union of this shadowy ambition with mediocre parts and attainments! But I digress.
(Can we date this quote?), John Mackay Wilson, Wilson's Tales of the Borders; Historical, Traditionary, and Imaginative, →OCLC, page 84:God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:8:Having been given seven full days, Jack Smith took exactly one day to file a forty-page response in opposition, to the Supreme Court, making the argument that there was no reason for the Supreme Court to hear Donald Trump's appeal of an unanimous opinion by the second most important court in the country, the Washington, D.C., Federal Court of Appeals, which supported the trial judge's ruling that there is no such thing as immunity from criminal prosecution for former presidents.
2024 February 14, Lawrence O'Donnell, 0:29 from the start, in Lawrence: Jack Smith asks SCOTUS to move fast on Trump. Nixon case is proof they can., MSNBC, archived from the original on 15 Feb 2024:President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is open to an European monetary fund but would want it to raise money cheaply on capital markets and lend it to needy euro-zone countries before they faced possible default.
2010 March 22, Paul Taylor, “Greece Debates Revive Old European Fears and Resentments”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Apr 2010, Inside Europe:In an unanimous vote on Monday, the city’s school board approved removing the name of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from Forrest Hill Academy and calling the alternative school the Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy.
2021 April 13, Neil Vigdor, “Hank Aaron’s Name Will Replace a Confederate General’s on an Atlanta School”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2021, U.S.:
- (UK, West-Country, indefinite, nonstandard) Form of a (all article senses). ▸ Used before all consonants.
Deriveds
Translations (132)
gsw en (indefinite article) · nn ein (indefinite article) · fa یه (indefinite article) · de ein (indefinite article) · br un (indefinite article) · de eine (indefinite article) · enm a (indefinite article) · lou in (indefinite article) · it un' (indefinite article) · id seorang (indefinite article) · ba often not used (indefinite article) · bqi یه (indefinite article) · wa ene (indefinite article) · li 'n (indefinite article) · nn eit (indefinite article) · fy in (indefinite article) · oc ua (indefinite article) · tr bi' (indefinite article) · ca una (indefinite article) · fa ـی (indefinite article) · ba бер (indefinite article) · aa hal (indefinite article) · an un (indefinite article) · ro un (indefinite article) · gsw e (indefinite article) · fo ein (indefinite article) · li e (indefinite article) · vo jiun (indefinite article) · wa èn (indefinite article) · mhn a m and f and (indefinite article) · gmw-ecg aa (indefinite article) · id sebuah (indefinite article) · sq një (indefinite article) · la unus (indefinite article) · kmr -yek (indefinite article) · wa on (indefinite article) · nds en (indefinite article) · it una (indefinite article) · lb eng (indefinite article) · hu egy (indefinite article) · el ένας (indefinite article) · da et (indefinite article) · rom jekh (indefinite article) · fr un (indefinite article) · fa یه (indefinite article) · ro o (indefinite article) · ist oûna (indefinite article) · huv nop (indefinite article) · li ene (indefinite article) · nl een (indefinite article) · da en (indefinite article) · fa یک (indefinite article) · ood g (indefinite article) · gl un (indefinite article) · kmr yek (indefinite article) · oc un (indefinite article) · haw he (indefinite article) · sv en (indefinite article) · th หนึ่ง (indefinite article) · an una (indefinite article) · fo eitt (indefinite article) · gl unha (indefinite article) · lij 'na (indefinite article) · tr bir (indefinite article) · br ul (indefinite article) · vo un (indefinite article) · bzj ahn (indefinite article) · bqi یه -ی (indefinite article) · af 'n (indefinite article) · enm an (indefinite article) · es una (indefinite article) · ka ერთ-ერთი (indefinite article) · hi एक (indefinite article) · lou ènn (indefinite article) · lij 'n (indefinite article) · fa -ی (indefinite article) · nb et (indefinite article) · eu bat (indefinite article) · pt uma (indefinite article) · he אחד (indefinite article) · hy մը (indefinite article) · fa یک -ی (indefinite article) · nds een (indefinite article) · yi אַ (indefinite article) · ta ஒரு (indefinite article) · ta ஒன்று (indefinite article) · ast una (indefinite article) · mi he (indefinite article) · bzj wahn (indefinite article) · el μια (indefinite article) · ast un (indefinite article) · tl isang (indefinite article) · fur un (indefinite article) · nb en (indefinite article) · fr une (indefinite article) · kn ಒಂದು (indefinite article) · tzj jun (indefinite article) · gsw es (indefinite article) · yi אַן (indefinite article) · wo ab (indefinite article) · vo hiun (indefinite article) · sv ett (indefinite article) · fa یک (indefinite article) · kmr -ek (indefinite article) · ht yon (indefinite article) · lou un (indefinite article) · ca un (indefinite article) · oc una (indefinite article) · lij ùnn-a (indefinite article) · pdc en (indefinite article) · lou unn (indefinite article) · hy մըն (indefinite article) · pt um (indefinite article) · fj e dua na (indefinite article) · mhn an (indefinite article) · tr bi (indefinite article) · fa یه -ی (indefinite article) · it un (indefinite article) · ist oûn (indefinite article) · mwl un (indefinite article) · br ur (indefinite article) · it uno (indefinite article) · nb ei (indefinite article) · lij un (indefinite article) · nds ein (indefinite article) · es un (indefinite article) · fur une (indefinite article) · te ఒక (indefinite article) · mwl ũa (indefinite article) · nn ei (indefinite article) · ia un (indefinite article) · tpi wanpela (indefinite article)