A#b means a is the daughter of b
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often capitalized, often attributive Show 1 a : the 1st letter of the English alphabet b : a graphic representation of this letter 2 : the sixth tone of a C-major scale 3 : a graphic device for reproducing the letter a 4 : one designated a especially as the first in order or class 5 a : a grade rating a student's work as superior in quality b : one graded or rated with an A 6 : something shaped like the letter A 7 capitalized : the one of the four ABO blood groups characterized by the presence of antigens designated by the letter A and by the presence of antibodies against the antigens present in the B blood group 1 —used as a function word before singular nouns when the referent is unspecified a man overboard and before number collectives and some numbersa dozen 2 : the same birds of a feather swords all of a length 3 a —used as a function word before a singular noun followed by a restrictive modifier a man who was here yesterday b : any a person who is sick can't work c —used as a function word before a mass noun to denote a particular type or instance a bronze made in ancient times d —used as a function word before a proper noun representing an example or type the attractions of a Boston or a Cleveland e —used as a function word before a proper noun to indicate limited knowledge about the referent a Mr. Smith called to inquire about the job f —used as a function word before a proper noun to distinguish the condition of the referent from a usual, former, or hypothetical condition a triumphant Ms. Jones greeted her supporters g —used before the name of a day of the week to refer to one occurrence of it Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year. h —used before the name of a person (such as a famous artist) when the name is being used to refer to something (such as a painting) created by that person Her violin is a Stradivarius. i —used before a family name to show that someone is a member of that family To be a Kennedy is to lead two lives … Margaret Carlson 4 —used as a function word with nouns to form adverbial phrases of quantity, amount, or degree felt a bit tired  In speech and writing a is used before a consonant sound. Before a vowel sound an is usual but especially in speech a is used occasionally, more often in some dialects than in others. Before a consonant sound represented by a vowel letter a is usual but an also occurs though less frequently now than formerly. Before unstressed or weakly stressed syllables with initial h both a and an are used in writing. In the King James Version of the Old Testament and occasionally in writing and speech an is used before h in a stressed syllable. children are an heritage of the Lord Psalms 127:3 (King James Version) 1 : in, to, or for each twice a week 2 chiefly dialectal : on, in, at informal : of There are a lot a stairs, but the view at the top is absolutely beautiful. Auli'i Cravalho, quoted in The New York Times —often attached to the preceding wordBut I did kinda sorta secretly hope to one day be interviewed from Oprah Winfrey's yoga nook. Jennifer SeniorThat's a whole lotta [=lot of] hypothesizin' without a whole lotta science. Rebecca Watson archaic : have I might a had husbands afore now … John Bunyan Poor Sir William! never shall I forget how he looked whin my lady and he parted. I could a tould the reason, but I'd a cut my tongue out first. Anne Newport Royall 6 chemistry amorphous —usually used in combination a-Si 2 : in (such) a state or condition afire 3 : in (such) a manner aloud 4 : in the act or process of gone a-hunting atingle : not : without asexual —a- before consonants other than h and sometimes even before h, an- before vowels and usually before hachromaticahistoricalanastigmaticanhydrous : replacing carbon especially in a ring aza- : oxide silica alumina magnesia Example SentencesNoun a word that begins with an a a word that begins with a a song in the key of A She got an A on the exam. Word HistoryEtymology Indefinite article Middle English, from Old English ān one — more at one Preposition (1) Middle English, from Old English a-, an, on Preposition (2) Middle English, by contraction Verb Middle English, contraction of have Prefix (1) Middle English, from Old English Prefix (2) Latin & Greek; Latin, from Greek — more at un- Combining form perhaps from -a- in ring compounds such as thiazole (in which -a- is the initial of azole) Noun suffix New Latin, from -a (as in magnesia) First Known Use Noun before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Indefinite Article before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Preposition (1) before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2 Preposition (2) 15th century, in the meaning defined above Verb 14th century, in the meaning defined above Time Traveler The first known use of a was before the 12th century Dictionary Entries Near aCite this Entry“A.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022. ShareMore from Merriam-Webster on aSubscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Merriam-Webster unabridged Is æ the same as A?Æ (lowercase: æ) is a character formed from the letters a and e, originally a ligature representing the Latin diphthong ae. It has been promoted to the status of a letter in some languages, including Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese. It was also used in Old Swedish before being changed to ä.
What is this symbol A?The letter Å (å in lower case) represents various (although often very similar) sounds in several languages. It is a separate letter in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, North Frisian, Low Saxon, Walloon, Chamorro, Lule Sami, Pite Sami, Skolt Sami, Southern Sami, Ume Sami, and Greenlandic alphabets.
How old is the letter A?The letter A is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph—a western Semitic word referring to the aforementioned beast of burden. Aleph can be traced back to the Middle Bronze Age and the Proto-Sinaitic script found in parts of Egypt and Canaan from around 1850 BCE (Before the Common Era).
Who uses A?The letter Ä occurs as an independent letter in the Finnish, Swedish, Skolt Sami, Karelian, Estonian, Luxembourgish, North Frisian, Saterlandic, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Rotuman, Slovak, Tatar, Kazakh, Gagauz, German, and Turkmen alphabets, where it represents a vowel sound.
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