a.
The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Meaning & usage
The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Where this word comes from
The letter name is from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced the futhorc letter ᚪ (a) beginning in the 7th century, and partially also ᚫ (æ).
The first numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called ay and written in the Latin script.
Where this word comes from
The letter name is from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced the futhorc letter ᚪ (a) beginning in the 7th century, and partially also ᚫ (æ).
The name of the Latin script letter A/a.
Where this word comes from
The letter name is from Middle English ā, from Old French, ultimately from Latin ā. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced the futhorc letter ᚪ (a) beginning in the 7th century, and partially also ᚫ (æ).
An unspecified example of (something); the indefinite article.
There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
One; used before score, dozen, hundred, thousand, million, etc.
I've seen it happen a hundred times.
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?
They asked me a few questions.
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.
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.
The same; one and the same. Used in phrases such as of a kind, birds of a feather, etc.
We are of a mind on matters of morals.
They're two of a kind.
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.
Any; used with a negative to indicate not a single one.
It was so dark that we couldn't see a thing.
He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
Used before an adjective that modifies a noun (singular or plural) delimited by a numeral.
The lottery jackpot is worth a staggering three hundred million dollars.
The holidays are a mere one week away.
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.
Used before an adjective modifying a person's name, typically used to emphasize that person's current condition or emotional state.
Someone or something like; similar to; used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.
The man is a regular Romeo.
Where this word comes from
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”).
To do with separation; In, into.
torn a pieces
To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by. Often occurs between two nouns, where the first noun occurs at the end of a verbal phrase.
I brush my teeth twice a day.
To do with status; In.
To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto.
stand a tiptoe
To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing.
To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in.
To do with an action/movement; To, into.
To do with method; In, with.
To do with role or capacity; In.
a God’s name
Where this word comes from
* From Middle English a, o, from Old English a-, an, on. * Unstressed form of on.
Have (auxiliary verb).
I'd a come, if you'd a asked.
Had (auxiliary verb).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English a, ha contraction of have, or haven.
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative.
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative. He, the third-person singular nominative.
He, she, they: the third-person singular or plural nominative. She, the third-person singular nominative.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English a, a reduced form of he (“he”)/ha (“he”), heo (“she”)/ha (“she”), ha (“it”), and hie, hie (“they”).
Of.
The name of John a Gaunt.
cloth a gold; time a day
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English a From Middle English of, with apocope of the final f and vowel reduction.
All.
Where this word comes from
From Northern Middle English aw, alteration of all.
All.
Where this word comes from
From Northern Middle English aw, alteration of all.
Used to express a future action; going to.
I'm a go see what's going on out there.
Where this word comes from
Contraction of gonna, itself a reduction of going to; see Etymology 8 above (“to”).
Distance from leading edge to aerodynamic center.
specific absorption coefficient
specific rotation
allele (recessive)
across
Do you have the answer for 23a?
Alternative spelling of a.m. (“ante meridiem”) or am
The name of the Cyrillic script letter А/а.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Russian а (a).
ah; er (sound of hesitation)
The fourth semiquaver (sixteenth note) of a beat.
The pianist played a C on the a of four.
Where this word comes from
From the common method of counting semiquavers as "one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a" and so on.
Pronunciation spelling of to.
Contraction of and.
Where this word comes from
Contraction of and.
Alternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.