A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.
Shak.
A-. 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. ofdne off the dun or hill). (3) AS. - (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 à (L. ad to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix α without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-.
Besides these, there are other sources from which the prefix a takes its origin.
A 1 ( wn). 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.
A 1 is also applied colloquially to other things to imply superiority; prime; first-class; first-rate.
||Aam (m or äm), n. [D. aam, fr. LL. ama; cf. L. hama a water bucket, Gr. &?;] A Dutch and German measure of liquids, varying in different cities, being at Amsterdam about 41 wine gallons, at Antwerp 36½, at Hamburg 38¼. [Written also Aum and Awm.]
||Aard"-vark` (ärd"värk`), n. [D., earth-pig.] (Zoöl.) An edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa. It burrows in the ground, and feeds entirely on ants, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.
||Aard"-wolf` (ärd"wlf), n. [D, earth-wolf] (Zoöl.) A carnivorous quadruped (Proteles Lalandii), of South Africa, resembling the fox and hyena. See Proteles.
{ Aa*ron"ic (*rn"k), Aa*ron"ic*al (-*kal), } a. Pertaining to Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews.
Aar"on's rod` (âr"nz rd`). [See Exodus vii. 9 and Numbers xvii. 8] 1. (Arch.) A rod with one serpent twined around it, thus differing from the caduceus of Mercury, which has two.
2. (Bot.) A plant with a tall flowering stem; esp. the great mullein, or hag-taper, and the golden-rod.
Ab- (b). [Latin prep., etymologically the same as E. of, off. See Of.] A prefix in many words of Latin origin. It signifies from, away , separating, or departure, as in abduct, abstract, abscond. See A-(6).
||Ab (b), n. [Of Syriac origin.] The fifth month of the Jewish year according to the ecclesiastical reckoning, the eleventh by the civil computation, coinciding nearly with August. W. Smith.
||Ab"a*ca (b"*k), n. [The native name.] The Manila-hemp plant (Musa textilis); also, its fiber. See Manila hemp under Manila.
A*bac"i*nate (*bs"*nt), v. t. [LL. abacinatus, p. p. of abacinare; ab off + bacinus a basin.] To blind by a red-hot metal plate held before the eyes. [R.]