an.
Form of a (all article senses).
Meaning & usage
Form of a (all article senses). Used before a vowel sound.
I'll be there in half an hour.
'E's staying at an 'otel. (compare He's staying at a hotel.)
Form of a (all article senses). Used before /h/ in a stressed or unstressed syllable.
Form of a (all article senses). Used before one and words with initial ⟨u⟩, ⟨eu⟩ when pronounced /ju/.
Form of a (all article senses). Used before all consonants.
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 English an From Middle English an, from Old English ān (“a, an”, literally “one”). More at one.
one
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 English an From Middle English an, from Old English ān (“a, an”, literally “one”). More at one.
If
So long as.
An it harm none, do what ye will.
As if; as though.
At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the Fog it came; And an it were a Christian Soul, We hail'd it in God's Name.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English an (“and, if”). Doublet of and.
The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, ა (Mkhedruli), Ⴀ (Asomtavruli) or ⴀ (Nuskhuri).
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Georgian ან (an).
In each; to or for each; per.
I was only going twenty miles an hour.
Where this word comes from
From the Old English an, on (preposition).
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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.