Hear it pronounceda
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
[ Translingual
[ Etymology 1
Modification of capital letter A, from Greek letter Α (a), “‘alpha’”).
[ Pronunciation
- (most languages): IPA: /ɑː/, /a/
[ Letter
a (lower case, upper case A)
- Lower case form of A. The first lower case letter of the classical Latin alphabet and most variations thereof, including the English alphabet.
[ Usage notes
The letter a is used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent an open central unrounded vowel (IPA: /a/).
[ See also
- (select forms with diacritics) à á â ā ä å
- (select forms with ligatures) æ
- (select symbols) @ ɐ ɑ
- (other scripts) Cyrillic а (a), Greek α (a), “‘alpha’”), Hebrew א (a), “‘aleph’”), Hiragana あ (a), Katakanaア (a)
- For more variations, see Appendix:Variations of "a".
- See Appendix:Roman script
[ External links
[ Etymology 2
From atto-, from Danish and Norwegian atten (“‘eighteen’”).
[ Symbol
a
- atto-, the prefix for 10-18 by the International System of Units.
[ Etymology 3
[ Symbol
a
- A year in SI Units, specifically a Julian year or exactly 365.25 days.
[ English
| Rank of this word in the English language, from analyzing texts from Project Gutenberg. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of | and | to | #5: a | in | that | I |
[ Etymology 1
From Middle English and Old English lower case letter a and split of Middle English and Old English lower case letter æ.
-
Old English lower case letter a from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case letter a of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚪ (a), “‘āc’”), derived from Runic letter ᚫ (a), “‘Ansuz’”).
Old English lower case letter æ from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case ligature æ of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚫ (æ), “‘æsc’”), also derived from Runic letter ᚫ (a), “‘Ansuz’”).
[ Alternative forms
- (Gregg shorthand versions Centennial,Series 90, DJS, Simplified, Anniversary, and Pre-Anniversary) · (“‘dot’”)
[ Pronunciation
- (letter name)
- The current pronunciation is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early part of the 17th century, was similar to that in other languages.
- (phoneme) IPA: /æ/, /ɑː/, /eɪ/, ...
[ Letter
a (lower case, upper case A)
- The first letter of the English alphabet.
[ Usage notes
In English, the letter a by usually denotes the near-open front unrounded vowel (IPA: /æ/), as in pad, the open back unrounded vowel (IPA: /ɑː/) as in father, or, followed by another vowel, the diphthong IPA: /eɪ/, as in ace.
a is the third-most common letter in English.
[ Derived terms
[ See also
- Next letter: b
[ Etymology 2
[ Pronunciation
- (stressed) IPA: /eɪ/, SAMPA: /eI/
- (unstressed) IPA: /ə/, SAMPA: /@/
- Audio (RP), stressedhelp, file
- Audio (US), stressedhelp, file
- Audio (US), unstressedhelp, file
[ Article
a (indefinite)
- Apocopic form of an. One; any indefinite example of.
- There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
- I've seen it happen a hundred times.
- One certain or particular.
- We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
[ Usage notes
Before a vowel sound, a becomes an.
[ Quotations
- 2005, Emily Kingsley (lyricist), Kevin Clash (voice actor), “A Cookie is a Sometime Food”, Sesame Street, season 36, Sesame Workshop
- Hoots the Owl: Yes a, fruit, is a [sic, any, time, food!
[ Translations
See an for translations.
[ Etymology 3
Unstressed form of on.
[ Pronunciation
- IPA: /ə/
[ Preposition
a
- (archaic) In, on, at, by.
- A God’s name.
- Torn a pieces.
- Stand a tiptoe.
- Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV-v: A Sundays
- Chaucer: Wit that men have now a days.
- (archaic) In the process of; in the act of; into; to. (Used with verbal substantives in -ing which begin with a consonant.)
- King James Bible, Hebrews 11-21: Jacob, when he was a dying
- Shakespeare: It was a doing.
- (archaic) Of.
- The name of John a Gaunt.
- Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV, I-ii: What time a day is it?
- Ben Jonson: It’s six a clock.
- To, each, per.
- I brush my teeth twice a day.
- The servants are given a bonus of six shillings a man.
[ Etymology 4
Unstressed variant of have or of.
[ Pronunciation
- IPA: /ə/
[ Verb
|
Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
a (third-person singular simple present -, present participle -, simple past and past participle -)
- (archaic or slang) Have. (Now often attached to preceding auxiliary verb.)
- I shoulda stayed at home last night.
- 1860 printing, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, page 73
- So would I a done by yonder ſunne
- And thou hadſt not come to my bed.
[ Derived terms
[ Etymology 5
Unstressed variant of ha (“‘he’”), heo (“‘she’”), etc.
[ Pronunciation
- IPA: /ə/
[ Pronoun
a
- He; she; it; they.
- (obsolete) Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, III-ii:
- a’ brushes his hat o’ mornings.
- (UK, Scotland, dialectical) 1874 Thomas Hardy, Far from thee Madding Crowd, Barnes & Noble Classics reprint [reset], 2005, ch 5 p 117; from "Hardy's 1912 Wessex edition":
- "And how Farmer James would cuss, and call thee a fool, wouldn't he, Joseph, when 'a seed his name looking so inside-out-like?" continued Matthew Moon, with feeling. / "Ay -- 'a would," said Joseph meekly.
- (obsolete) Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, III-ii:
[ Etymology 6
Variant spelling of ah.