an-

From Middle English an-, from Old English an-, on- (“on-”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana-, from Proto-Germanic *ana- (“on”). More at on.

• on-, a-

an-

1. Alternative form of on-.

   ancome, aneal, anent

From Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-). Doublet of un- and in- .

an-

1. not; used to make words that have a sense opposite to the word (or stem) to which the prefix is attached. Used with stems that begin with vowels and "h".
2. Without, lacking.

   anoxia (without oxygen), anandrous (without male parts)

• (not): a-, dys-, i-/il-/im-/in-/ir-, mal-, non-, un-
• (without): ex-, -less, -free

• a-

• anti-
• in-
• non-
• un-

From Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-), from ἀνά (aná, “on, up, above, throughout”). Doublet of on-.

an-

1. Alternative form of ana-.

• n.a., NA, -na, N/A, N.A., n/a, Na, na

an-

1. alternative form of ãn-

• am- (when followed by a vowel or a consonant which is labial)

an-

1. Subject prefix for verbs; it indicates that the subject is second-person plural; you, you all.

From Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-. Cognate with Welsh an-.

an-

1. un-, non-

   Synonyms: di-, dis-, heb, on-

   ‎an- + ‎galladow (“possible”) → ‎analladow (“impossible”)

   ‎an- + ‎dien (“complete”) → ‎andhien (“incomplete”)

• Triggers soft mutation of b, d, and g.

• Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF) (in Cornish), 2018, published 2018, page 11

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

an-

1. an-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).

• IPA^(key): /ɑn/

• Audio:

  (file)

an-

1. an-: Not, without, opposite of

• IPA^(key): /an‿/

an-

1. in-, an-. alternative form of a- before a vowel or h

From the preposition an, from Middle High German an(e), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana. Compare Dutch aan-, English on-.

• IPA^(key): /an/, [ʔan]

  • Audio:

    (file)

  • Homophone: an
• IPA^(key): /aːn/ (still sometimes Austria, Switzerland; in Germany now highly archaic)

an-

1. onto, at, towards (the object)

   ‎an- + ‎schrauben (“to screw”) → ‎anschrauben (“to screw on, attach by screwing”)

   ‎an- + ‎schreien (“to shout”) → ‎anschreien (“to shout at”)

   ‎an- + ‎bauen (“to build”) → ‎anbauen (“to attach, expand, build next to”)

2. near, over, towards (the subject)

   Synonyms: her-, herbei-

   Antonyms: ab-, weg-, fort-

   ‎an- + ‎ziehen (“to pull”) → ‎anziehen (“to attract, pull towards one”)

   ‎an- + ‎kaufen (“to buy”) → ‎ankaufen (“to buy so as to form a stock, buy up”)

3. expresses a beginning, partial or slight action

   Antonyms: durch-, fertig-, weg-

   ‎an- + ‎knabbern (“to nibble”) → ‎anknabbern (“to nibble part of, start to nibble”)

   ‎an- + ‎braten (“to fry”) → ‎anbraten (“to sear, fry outwardly or slightly”)

   ‎an- + ‎zahlen (“to pay”) → ‎anzahlen (“to pay down, pay part of”)

4. on, in use

   Antonym: aus-

   ‎an- + ‎stellen (“to put”) → ‎anstellen (“to turn on”)

• Also occurs in many nouns, but these are generally deverbal.

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“un-, not”), zero-grade form of *né (“not”).

• IPA^(key): /an/, [ʔan]

an-

1. forming words with the sense of negation, an-

From an (“at, on”).

an-

1. at, on

From Old Irish an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• ana- (form used before consonants in Munster)

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈɑn̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːn/
• (Connemara, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈan̪ˠ/

an-

2. (with adjectives, always spelled with a hyphen) very

   Synonyms: fíor-, rí-

4. (with adjectives) over-, excessively, intensely
6. (with nouns) great, excessive

• Triggers lenition (except of d, s, and t):

• ‎an- + ‎beag → ‎an-bheag (“very small”)
• ‎an- + ‎deas → ‎an-deas (“very nice”)

• In some dialects (e.g. Aran), it also changes s to ts:

• ‎an- + ‎saor → ‎an-tsaor (“very cheap”) (standard form an-saor)

• In Munster, this form is used only before a vowel; before a consonant the variant ana- is used.

From Old Irish an-, in-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• ain- (used before slender vowels and consonants)

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈɑn̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈɑn/
• (Connemara, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈan̪ˠ/

an- (usually spelled without a hyphen)

2. in-, un-, not
4. bad, unnatural

From Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-).

an-

1. an- (not)

From Old Irish an-, from Proto-Celtic *sani (“apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Hi.

an-

1. denoting a movement away from some reference point, used to form adverbs of place, for example anuas (“from above”)

• s-
• th-

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “an-”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 27
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “an”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 27
• Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 16
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “an-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

an-

1. alternative form of a- indicating lack or loss

From the preposition an, from Proto-Germanic *in. Compare German ein-, English in-.

• IPA^(key): /an/, [ɑn]

an-

1. in- (indicates physical or metaphorical motion into something)

• When attached to a verb stem beginning with a consonant sound other than /d/, /h/, /n/, /t/ or /t͡s/, the prefix becomes a- as a result of the Eifeler Regel.

• aus-

an-

1. prefix element of an- -ana

• i-

an-

1. alternative form of en-

From Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

an-

1. un-, not

• Welsh: an-, af-

• ǣn-

From Proto-West Germanic *aina-, from Proto-Germanic *aina- (“one, uni-”), equivalent to Old English ān (“one”).

• IPA^(key): /ɑːn/

ān-

1. one; mono-, uni-

   ān- + -hende (“handed”) → ānhende (“one-handed”)

   ān- + horn (“horn”) → ānhorn (“unicorn”)

   ān- + -īeġe (“-eyed”) → ānīeġe (“one-eyed”)

   ān- + -mōd (“-minded”) → ānmōd (“unanimous”)

   ān- + -nes (“-ness”) → ānnes (“unity”)

   ān- + wīġ (“battle”) → ānwīġ (“duel”)

   ān- + -wille (“-willed”) → ānwille (“stubborn”)

   ān- + -wintre (“years old”) → ānwintre (“one year old”)

2. lone, alone

   ān- + *genġa (“walker”) → āngenġa (“loner”)

   ān- + *setla (“settler”) → ānsetla (“hermit”)

• nān-

an-

1. alternative form of en-

• Particularly common in the works of Chrétien de Troyes.

From Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-. Cognates include Old English un-, Latin in-, Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).

• am-, é-, in-

an-

1. un-, not
2. bad

• Irish: an-
• Scottish Gaelic: an-

Uncertain. Maybe related to Welsh en- and Gaulish ande- in proper names Andecarus (literally “very dear”) and Anderoudus (literally “very red”).^[1] Considered the same word as an- (“un-”) by DIL (see Further reading).

an-

1. very

• Irish: an-
• Scottish Gaelic: an-

From Proto-Celtic *sani (“apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Hi,^[2] whence also Latin sine (“without”).^[3][4] Doublet of sain- (“different, special”).^[5]

an-

1. denoting a movement away from some reference point, used to form adverbs of place, for example anúas (“from above”)

• s-
• t-

• Irish: an-
• Scottish Gaelic: an-

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “an-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• (Negative prefix:) Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, § 869-72, pages 542-44; reprinted 2017
• (Adverbs of place:) Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, § 483, page 305; reprinted 2017

an-

1. alternative form of a- used before words beginning with vowels

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “an-”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

• (Standard) IPA^(key): /an/

an-

1. (personal) you, second-person plural subject marker.

   Antekitit tik ne mil?

   Do you work at the cornfield?

• Before a vowel, an- changes to anh-. The digraph ⟨nh⟩ is pronounced as [ŋ]. Example:

Anhajsiket peyna.

You came early.

• anmejemet (personal pronoun)
• metzin- (object marker)
• -t (plural verb suffix)

• IPA^(key): /an/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: an-

an-

1. alternative form of a-

• an- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From Old Frisian an-, from Proto-West Germanic *ana-. Cognates include West Frisian oan- and German an-.

• IPA^(key): /an-/

an-

1. combining form of an

• ana-, ain-

From Old Irish an-.

an-

1. un-, anti-
2. bad, unnatural

• an-fhoiseil

an-

1. Used to emphasise the root.

• an-mhòr

• IPA^(key): /an/ [ãn]
• Syllabification: an-

an-

1. an-

• “a-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From the Old Swedish and- meaning “against/towards”.

an-

1. against, towards

• -na, na

Inherited from Proto-Italic *ana-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-.

an- (late Iguvine)

1. alternative form of 𐌀𐌍- (an-)

Inherited from Proto-Italic *ən-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

an- (early Iguvine)

1. alternative form of 𐌀- (a-)

• Buck, Carl Darling (1904), A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian: With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary
• Poultney, James Wilson (1959), The Bronze Tables of Iguvium‎^[1], Baltimore: American Philological Association
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 36-37

• IPA^(key): /an/

From Middle Welsh an-, from Proto-Brythonic *an-, from Proto-Celtic *an-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.^[1] Cognate with Cornish an-.

an-

1. not, un-, non-, an-, dis-, negative prefix

   Synonym: (used before gl, ll, rh, and consonantal i) af-

   ‎an- + ‎parch (“respect”) → ‎amarch (“disrespect”)

   ‎an- + ‎prisiadwy (“valuable”) → ‎amhrisiadwy (“invaluable”)

   ‎an- + ‎teg (“fair”) → ‎annheg (“unfair”)

   ‎an- + ‎cofio (“to remember”) → ‎anghofio (“to forget”)

   ‎an- + ‎diwedd (“end”) → ‎anniwedd (“endless”)

   ‎an- + ‎gwybod (“to know”) → ‎anwybod (“ignorance”)

   ‎an- + ‎mantais (“advantage”) → ‎anfantais (“disadvantage”)

Triggers the nasal mutation of p, t, c and d, sometimes with accompanying euphonic or orthographic adjustments, and the soft mutation of b, g and m.

From Proto-Celtic *ande-, *ando- (“inside”).

an- (not productive)

1. intensive prefix
2. in-, inside, inward

R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “an-”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

• IPA^(key): [aŋ-]

an-

1. allomorph of ön- (negative/sociative irrealis prefix) used for stems that begin with a or e