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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [an]
AN, a. [L. unus, una, unum; Gr.] One; noting an individual, either definitely, known, certain, specified, or understood; or indefinitely, not certain, known, or specified. Definitely, as "Noah built an ark of Gopher wood." "Paul was an eminent apostle." Indefinitely, as "Bring me an orange." Before a consonant the letter n is dropped, as a man; but our ancestors wrote an man, an king. This letter represents an definitely, or indefinitely. Definitely, as "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God." Ex. 6. Indefinitely, as "the province of a judge is to decide controversies." An being the same word as one, should not be used with it; "such an one" is tautology; the true phrase is such one. Although an, a and one, are the same word, and always have the same sense, yet by custom, an and a are used exclusively as a definite adjective, and one is used in numbering. Where our ancestors wrote an, twa, thry, we now use one, two, three. So an and a are never used except with a noun; but one like other adjectives, is sometimes used without its noun, and as a substitute for it; "one is at a loss to assign a reason for such conduct."AN, in old English authors, signifies if; as, "an it please your honor." Gr.; L. an, if or whether. It is probably an imperative, like if, gif, give.
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Evolution (or devolution) of this word [an]
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AN, a. [L. unus, una, unum; Gr.] One; noting an individual, either definitely, known, certain, specified, or understood; or indefinitely, not certain, known, or specified. Definitely, as "Noah built an ark of Gopher wood." "Paul was an eminent apostle." Indefinitely, as "Bring me an orange." Before a consonant the letter n is dropped, as a man; but our ancestors wrote an man, an king. This letter represents an definitely, or indefinitely. Definitely, as "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God." Ex. 6. Indefinitely, as "the province of a judge is to decide controversies." An being the same word as one, should not be used with it; "such an one" is tautology; the true phrase is such one. Although an, a and one, are the same word, and always have the same sense, yet by custom, an and a are used exclusively as a definite adjective, and one is used in numbering. Where our ancestors wrote an, twa, thry, we now use one, two, three. So an and a are never used except with a noun; but one like other adjectives, is sometimes used without its noun, and as a substitute for it; "one is at a loss to assign a reason for such conduct."AN, in old English authors, signifies if; as, "an it please your honor." Gr.; L. an, if or whether. It is probably an imperative, like if, gif, give. |
AN, a. [Sax. an, ane, one; D. een; Ger. ein; Sw. and Dan. en; Fr. on, un, une; Sp. un, uno; It. uno, una; L. unus, una, unum; Gr. εν; Ir. ein, ean, aon; W. un, yn; Corn. uynyn; Arm. yunan.]One; noting an individual, either definitely, known, certain, specified, or understood; or indefinitely, not certain, known, or specified. Definitely, as “Noah built an ark of Gopher wood:” “Paul was an eminent apostle.” Indefinitely, as “Bring me an orange.” Before a consonant the letter n is dropped, as a man; but our ancestors wrote an man, an king. This letter represents an definitely, or indefinitely. Definitely, as “I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God.” Ex. vi. Indefinitely, as “The province of a judge is to decide controversies.” An being the same word as one, should not be used with it; “such an one,” is tautology the true phrase is such one. Although an, a and one, are the same word, and always have the same sense, yet by custom, an and a are used exclusively as a definitive adjective, and one is used in numbering. Where our ancestors wrote an, twa, thry, we now use one, two, three. So an and a are never used except with a noun; but one, like other adjectives, is sometimes used without its noun, and as a substitute for it: “One is at a loss to assign a reason for such conduct.”
An is to be used before a vowel and before a silent h, as an hour. It is also used before h when the accent of the word falls on any syllable except the first, as in historian, and historiographer.
AN, conj. [In old English authors, signifies if; as, “an it please your honor.” So in Gr. αν or εαν, Ar. انْ, Sam. and L. an, if or whether; Ir. an, Ch. אן or אין, if, whether. It is probably an imperative, like if, gif, give. Qu. Sax. annan, or anan, to give.] |
An
- This word is properly an
adjective, but is commonly called the indefinite article. It
is used before nouns of the singular number only, and signifies one,
or any, but somewhat less emphatically. In such expressions as
"twice an hour," "once an age," a shilling an ounce
(see 2d A, 2), it has a distributive force, and is equivalent to
each, every.
- If; -- a word used by old English authors.
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An AN, adjective [Latin unus, una, unum; Gr.] One; noting an individual, either definitely, known, certain, specified, or understood; or indefinitely, not certain, known, or specified. Definitely, as 'Noah built an ark of Gopher wood.' 'Paul was an eminent apostle.' Indefinitely, as 'Bring me an orange.' Before a consonant the letter n is dropped, as a man; but our ancestors wrote an man, an king. This letter represents an definitely, or indefinitely. Definitely, as 'I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God.' Exodus 6:8. Indefinitely, as 'the province of a judge is to decide controversies.' an being the same word as one, should not be used with it; 'such an one' is tautology; the true phrase is such one. Although an a and one, are the same word, and always have the same sense, yet by custom, an and a are used exclusively as a definite adjective, and one is used in numbering. Where our ancestors wrote an twa, thry, we now use one, two, three. So an and a are never used except with a noun; but one like other adjectives, is sometimes used without its noun, and as a substitute for it; 'one is at a loss to assign a reason for such conduct.' AN, in old English authors, signifies if; as, 'an it please your honor.' Gr.; Latin an if or whether. It is probably an imperative, like if, gif, give. |
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* As a note, I have purchased each of these products. In fact, as we have been developing the Project:: 1828 Reprint, I have purchased several of the bulky hard-cover dictionaries. My opinion is that the 2000-page hard-cover edition is the only good viable solution at this time. The compact edition was a bit disappointing and the CD-ROM as well. |
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