Where does “-a-” come from?
-a- (English) comes from French à, from English avie, from French envie, from Latin invidia, from Latin invidus, from Latin invideo, from Latin īn-, from Latin în — in.
-a- (English): And; Connective infix encountered in loanwords...
Definitions
- And; Connective infix encountered in loanwords...
Ancestry of “-a-”, step by step
-a- traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French à
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | à | to; on the, to; at |
| 2 | English | avie | emulously |
| 3 | French | envie | desire, lust, urge; appetite, craving; envy |
| 4 | Latin | invidia | envy, grudge, jealousy, prejudice, spite; an... |
| 5 | Latin | invidus | envious; hostile, inimical |
| 6 | Latin | invideo | I look askance or maliciously at, cast an evil... |
| 7 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 8 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 9 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
via English A
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | A | The ordinal number first, derived from this... |
| 2 | English | AND | Alternative form of ∧, the conjunction operator;... |
| 3 | Middle English | and | and, and then; however, yet, but, though. while;... |
| 4 | Old English | and | and; even; also |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | andi | in addition, furthermore, and |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énti | opposite; near; in front |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énts | forehead; front |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ent- | face; forehead; front |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |