Etymograph

English

an-

An- comes from Proto-West Germanic *ana- ‘Forming verbs and adjectives from participles…’, from Proto-Germanic *ana- ‘on’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- ‘on, onto’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂en-‘on, onto’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic pre-Germanic
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ana-‘on’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘Forming verbs and adjectives from participles and nouns, with various senses of on, upon’reconstructed
  4. Englishtodayan-

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂en-‘on, onto’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic pre-Germanic
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ana-‘on’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘Forming verbs and adjectives from participles and nouns, with various senses of on, upon’reconstructed
  4. Englishtodayan-

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- ‘on, onto’

on, end, along, upon, ana, anterior, asunder, 8 more

Another origin of an-

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥-‘not, un-’reconstructed
  2. Englishtodayan-

Another origin of an-

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂en-‘on, onto’uncertain
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*aná‘up, upon’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνάaná‘on, up, above, throughout’
  4. Englishtodayan-

Another origin of an-

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad‘to, towards’
  4. Englishtodayan-

Assimilated form of ad- before n.

Today it means

prefix —

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- / an-

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