APage 2
- English Word A Definition In process of; in the act of; into; to; -- used with verbal substantives in -ing which begin with a consonant. This is a shortened form of the preposition an (which was used before the vowel sound); as in a hunting, a building, a begging.
- English Word A Definition An adjective, commonly called the indefinite article, and signifying one or any, but less emphatically.
- English Word A Definition In each; to or for each; as, "twenty leagues a day", "a hundred pounds a year", "a dollar a yard", etc.
- English Word A Definition Of.
- English Word A Definition In; on; at; by.
- English Word A 1 Definition A registry mark given by underwriters (as at Lloyd's) to ships in first-class condition. Inferior grades are indicated by A 2 and A 3.
- English Word A B C Definition The first three letters of the alphabet, used for the whole alphabet.
- English Word A B C Definition A primer for teaching the alphabet and first elements of reading.
- English Word A B C Definition The simplest rudiments of any subject; as, the A B C of finance.
- English Word A cappella Definition A time indication, equivalent to alla breve.
- English Word A cappella Definition In church or chapel style; -- said of compositions sung in the old church style, without instrumental accompaniment; as, a mass a capella, i. e., a mass purely vocal.
- English Word A fortiori Definition With stronger reason.
- English Word A mensa et thoro Definition A kind of divorce which does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes a separate life of the husband and wife.
- English Word A posteriori Definition Characterizing that kind of reasoning which derives propositions from the observation of facts, or by generalizations from facts arrives at principles and definitions, or infers causes from effects. This is the reverse of a priori reasoning.
- English Word A posteriori Definition Applied to knowledge which is based upon or derived from facts through induction or experiment; inductive or empirical.
- English Word A priori Definition Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to make experience rational or possible.
- English Word A priori Definition Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively. The reverse of a posteriori.
- English Word A- Definition A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on or in (from an, a forms of AS. on), denoting a state, as in afoot, on foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (AS. onweg), and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc. (2) AS. of off, from, as in adown (AS. ofd/ne off the dun or hill). (3) AS. a- (Goth. us-, ur-, Ger. er-), usually giving an intensive force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in arise, abide, ago. (4) Old English y- or i- (corrupted from the AS. inseparable particle ge-, cognate with OHG. ga-, gi-, Goth. ga-), which, as a prefix, made no essential addition to the meaning, as in aware. (5) French a (L. ad to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix / without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-.
- English Word A-mornings Definition In the morning; every morning.
- English Word A-sea Definition On the sea; at sea; toward the sea.