Dictionary

a en · DET · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (UK, unstressed) audio
• /eɪ/ stressed form
• /ə/ (unstressed)
• (US, stressed) audio
• (US, unstressed) audio
• (UK, stressed) 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 Middle English a English a From Middle English a, an, from Old English ān (“one; a; lone; sole”). More at one. The "n" was gradually lost before consonants in almost all dialects by the 15th century. Cognate with Alemannic German a (“a, an”), East Franconian a (“a, an”).

Meanings

1. An unspecified example of (something); the indefinite article.
   • There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
   • He had another formidable difficulty in getting him across the river, where both horses stuck for a time in the mire, and Beatte was nearly unseated from his saddle by the force of the current and the struggles of his captive. 1835, [Washington Irving], chapter XX, in A Tour on the Prairies (The Crayon Miscellany; no. 1), Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, →OCLC, page 151:
   • Speaking as a servant, I am deeply indebted to you. Speaking as a man, I consider you to be a person whose head is full of maggots, and I take up my testimony against your experiment as a delusion and a snare. 1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “(please specify the page) [Fourth Narrative. Extracted from the Journal of Ezra Jennings.]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […], volume III, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1868, →OCLC, page 185:
   • Hoots the Owl: Yes a, fruit, is a , any, time, food! 2005, Emily Kingsley (lyricist), Kevin Clash (voice actor), “A Cookie is a Sometime Food”, Sesame Street, season 36, Sesame Workshop
   • In retrospect, I realise, I had been unconsciously devoting a large amount of energy to negative choice, a concept I'm borrowing and adapting from sociologist Eva Illouz's 2019 treatise, The End of Love (by way of a viral Paris Review essay). 2023 March 9, Moya Lothian-Mclean, “A nose ring, a bicycle, a Radiohead album: I'm becoming a total cliche – and I quite like it”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 May 2024:
   • Anna, do you have a pen? — Yes. I have a pen in my bag. I have a (stressed) … 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
   • The C.I.A. infiltrated not just magazines, radio, and movies but youth organizations and movements like Abstract Expressionism; all were meant to inspire a reverence for democracy and freedom, a project that, in Walker's telling, often tips into absurdity. 2024 May 21, Sarah Larson, “When the C.I.A. Turned Writers Into Operatives”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 May 2024:
   • With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […] 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, “Preface”, in The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
   • The young man thanked me, and took his leave with some little precipitation, after declining a glass of liquor. 1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 6, column 1:
2. One; used before score, dozen, hundred, thousand, million, etc.
   • By the time he gets onto a chair, the pristine powder snow below the lift has already been chopped up by a hundred tracks, and the line to get back up stretches the length of a football field. 2024 February 27, “The economics of skiing in America”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 May 2024:
   • I've seen it happen a hundred times.
   • You've seen it a dozen times already. 1999, Sara Hylton, Separate Lives, London: Piatkus, →ISBN, page 93:
   • Everybody drinks a lot in wartime, but it seemed to me that I must have drunk enough to float a couple of battleships. 1945, Peter Cheyney, Sinister Errand, London: Collins, published 1952, page 8:
3. Used in some phrases denoting quantity, such as a few, a good many, a couple, a little, a bit, etc.
   • He's a bit thick, isn't he?
   • But I was going to say, that while I was dawdling about abroad, I saw a good many talented young fellows making all sorts of sacrifices, and enduring real hardships, that they might realize their dreams. Splendid fellows, some of them, working like heroes, poor and friendless, but so full of courage, patience and ambition, that I was ashamed of myself, and longed to give them a right good lift. 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “My Lord and Lady”, in Little Women: […], 2nd part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 315:
   • They asked me a few questions.
   • The main influence here is job tenure—the men had been at their specific jobs a good while longer than the women. 1989, Robert T. Michael, Heidi I[rmgard] Hartmann, Brigid O'Farrell, editors, Pay Equity: Empirical Inquiries, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, →ISBN, page 3, column 2:
   • Twenty years after the movie's release, we know a lot more about the Atlantic Ocean's circulation. Instruments deployed in the ocean starting in 2004 show that the Atlantic Ocean circulation has observably slowed over the past two decades, possibly to its weakest state in almost a millennium. 2024 February 13, René M. van Westen, Henk A. Dijkstra, Michael Kliphuis, “If the Atlantic Ocean Loses Circulation, What Happens Next?”, in Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2024:
4. Used in some phrases denoting quantity, such as a few, a good many, a couple, a little, a bit, etc. ▸ Used before a numeral.
   • There are a few hundred orders that need to be fulfilled by tomorrow.
   • The impact of hidden virality can't be stopped by retroactively banning a few thousand Twitter accounts; it is an iterative, memetic phenomenon that outpaces terms of service. 2020 July 31, Brian Friedberg, “The Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 May 2024:
   • That was on the first day's walk. It took him until day three, after a good ten miles, to ask her out. 2023, Don Winslow, City of Dreams, London: HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN, page 332:
   • The blues were eating leisurely, swimming about and opening their great mouths, spouting and filling their enormous stomachs with intense satisfaction. They had no idea of danger. There must have been about fifteen of them, peacefully feeding. One of them, its belly gorged probably with a few trillion plankton, seemed to be lying asleep on the surface. 1934, Alan Villiers, Whalers of the Midnight Sun: […], New York, N.Y.; London: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 154:
5. Used in some adverbial phrases denoting the degree or extent of an action, such as a little, a bit, a lot, etc.
   • The door was opened a little.
   • You don't need to go cold turkey to help your health. Even reducing a little bit can be beneficial, especially if you currently drink over the recommended limits. 2023 January 13, Dana G. Smith, “Even a Little Alcohol Can Harm Your Health, Research Shows”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 May 2024:
   • The bridge was shifted a bit to the east and rebuilt, this time with the shops of money-changers along both sides. 2009, James H. S. McGregor, Paris From the Ground Up, Cambridge, M.A.; London: Belknap Press, →ISBN, page 163:
   • If, for example, you ask a child what he likes to do, he may say he doesn't know. However, if you watch him during free time, and note that he plays basketball a lot, you may infer that this is a high-probability behavior, and he finds it reinforcing. 1978, Deane H. Shapiro, Jr., Precision Nirvana, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc., →ISBN, page 104:
6. The same; one and the same. Used in phrases such as of a kind, birds of a feather, etc.
   • They're two of a kind.
   • We are of a mind on matters of morals.
7. Any; every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope.
   • A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
8. Any; used with a negative to indicate not a single one.
   • When had my own feelings become so muddled and complicated? Before I take a single step, he catches my arm, turning me to him. 2014, Sherry D. Ficklin, Queen of Someday: A Stolen Empire Novel, [Colony, T.X.]: Clean Teen Publishing, →ISBN, page 116:
   • My friend Cindy's husband, Michael Zahavi, a true chocoholic if there ever was one, adores this tart. In fact, when I visited their cottage up in Muskoka, Ontario one summer and brought this along as a treat, he got up in the middle of the night to nosh away at it, leaving us sleepyheads with nary a crumb the next day. 2016, Daphna Rabinovitch, “Fudge Truffle Tart”, in The Baker in Me, Vancouver, B.C.: Whitecap Books, →ISBN, page 204:
   • He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
   • It was so dark that we couldn't see a thing.
   • No, it is impossible. My conscience would give me not a moment's peace if I let you go. I would never forgive myself. 2001, Stephen Lawhead, The Mystic Rose Book (Celtic Crusades; III), London; […]: BCA, page 180:
9. Used before an adjective that modifies a noun (singular or plural) delimited by a numeral.
   • The holidays are a mere one week away.
   • The lottery jackpot is worth a staggering three hundred million dollars.
10. One; someone named; used before a person's name, suggesting that the speaker knows little about the person other than the name.
    • We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
11. Used before an adjective modifying a person's name, typically used to emphasize that person's current condition or emotional state.
    • At Waterloo she asked George for £5 and said that she would go home by tube, and a relieved George watched her descend the Underground steps. 1963, Robert Hancock, Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman To Be Hanged, London: Orion, published 1993, →ISBN, page 35:
    • "There, I think that's done it," declared a triumphant John, "we just need to try it with the bar now, where is it?" 2016, David J. Bailey, The Storm, London: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd., →ISBN, page 147:
    • "I will continue my campaign to fight for the rights of all Rwandans," a surprised but happy Rwigara told reporters after celebrating. 2018, “Rwandan court drops all charges against opposition figure”, in Associated Press:
12. Someone or something like; similar to; used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
    • The man is a regular Romeo.
    • For the first 5 or 6 days after the eggs hatch, the mother spends most of her time keeping the chicks warm while the father provides most of their meals. All that work may be what prompts the female to leave the family. They share feeding duties more equally during the next week or 10 days, until the young leave the nest. Producing a second batch is easier if she skips the last grueling week or two of provisioning fledglings. She can recharge her batteries by moseying off and, while on vacation, looking for a new Casanova. 2020, Laura Erickson, The Love Lives of Birds: Courting and Mating Rituals, North Adams, M.A.: Storey Publishing, →ISBN, page 81:
    • [Jules] Pécher actually sculpted a sort of Statue of Liberty for the centerpiece of the monument, but for the rest he thought it advisable to call in Van Rasbourgh, and Rodin thus became a ghost sculptor to a ghost sculptor. 1987, Frederic V. Grunfeld, Rodin: A Biography, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 88:
    • Billy fancied himself as a bit of a Han Solo, but he shook his head. 'Stop being a wuss.' He grinned. 'Your go.' 2009, Ed Macy, Hellfire, London: Harper Press, →ISBN, page 134:
    • The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.

Antonyms

every · the

Deriveds

a few · a great many

Relateds

an

Synonyms

an · one