the first letter of the Roman Alphabet, and of its various subsequent modifications (as were its prototypes Alpha of the Greek, and Aleph of the Phœnician and old Hebrew); representing originally in English, as in Latin, the ‘low-back-wide’ vowel, formed with the widest opening of jaws, pharynx, and lips. The plural has been written aes, A’s, As.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 481.
| And by þat cry men knaw þan | |
| Whether it be man or weman, | |
| For when it es born it cryes swa: | |
| If it be man it says a! a! | |
| That þe first letter is of þe nam | |
| Of our forme-fader Adam. |
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 161. On which was first i-write a crowned A, And after, Amor vincit omnia.
1401. Pol. Poems, II. 57. I know not an a [Ā] from the wynd-mylne, ne a b [B] from a bole-foot.
1678. Butler, Hudib., III. i. 1006. And loue your Loues with A’s and B’s.
1765. Tucker, Light of Nat., II. 89. Tully tells us, a hog has been known to make a perfect letter A with his snout upon the ground; but nobody ever saw, or thought it possible to see, the whole poem of Ennius scratched out in that manner: and I believe he might have added safely, that no man ever saw a single A written by a hog, without a multitude of other irregular scratches round about it.
a. 1842. Tennyson, The Epic, 50.
| Read, mouthing out his hollow oes and aes, | |
| Deep-chested music, and to this result. |
II. The letters of the alphabet, or some of them, are also used to indicate serial order and distinguish things in a series, as the notes of the musical scale, the ‘quires’ or sheets of a book, classes of ships, propositions in logic, quantities in algebra, points, and hence lines and figures in geometry. As the order is in some cases fixed, A or a has some specialized uses:
1. In Music: The 6th note of the diatonic scale of C major, or the first note of the relative minor scale of C, corresponding to la in the Tonic Sol-fa notation. Also, the scale of a composition with A as its key-note; as ‘a symphony in A.’
1609. Douland, Ornithoparcus Micrologus, 22. In the first part set A Base, in the third D sol re, in the fifth A lamire.
1806. Callcott, Gramm. of Music. The notes of Music are named from the first seven letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. When the Melody, or Tune, exceeds these seven, the same series of letters must be repeated.
1880. Grove, Dict. Mus., I. 192. The beautiful and passionate Sonata in A which was inspired by and dedicated to his [Beethoven’s] friend Madame Ertmann.
2. In Nautical language: see A 1 below.
3. In Logic: a universal affirmative.
1866. Mansel (in Bowen, Logic, 201). A is declared by Aristotle to be the most difficult proposition to establish, and the easiest to overthrow.
4. In Abstract reasoning, hypothetical argumentation, Law, etc. A means any one thing or person, B another, C a third, etc.; as, A becomes surety to B for C; C fails in his engagements, on which B, etc.
1870. Bowen, Logic, iii. 49. Every conceivable thing is either A or not-A. Of course A and not-A, taken together, include the universe.
5. In Algebra: a, b, c, and other early letters of the alphabet are used to express known quantities, as x, y, z are to express the unknown.
III. Abbreviations. A., a., a., stands for
1. anno, in the year, as A.D. anno domini, in the year of our Lord; A.M. anno mundi, in the year of the world; A.U.C. anno urbis conditæ, in the year of the city (Rome) having been founded. 2. ante, as ‘a.m.’ ante meridiem, before noon; a. 1600 or a. 1600, before 1600. 3. adjective; active (verb) 4. artium, as A.B. artium baccalaureus; A.M. artium magister; which in England are now written B.A., M.A., Bachelor, and Master, of Arts. 5. alto. 6. accepted (of bills). 7. Associate, as A.L.S. Associate of the Linnæan Society. 8. R.A. Royal Artillery, Royal Academy or Academician; F.S.A. Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries; F.R.A.S. Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and many similar titles. 9. A.B. able-bodied seaman. 10. a or aa in Med. ANA, q.v.
IV. Phrases, 1. A per se; the letter A when standing by itself, especially when making a word.
The word a was formerly spelt ‘a-per-se, a,’ that is, ‘a by itself makes the word a,’ whence also the letter itself was sometimes called A-per-se-A. So also I per se, O per se, &-per-se (and-per-se, an-per-se, ampersee).
Hence b. fig. (also formerly Apersie, Apersey, A per C) the first, chief, most excellent, most distinguished, or unique person or thing; one who is facile princeps, or in modern phrase, A 1.
1475. Henryson, Test. of Cresseide, 78 (Speght’s Chaucer). The floure and A per se of Troie and Grece.
a. 1500. MS. Cantab., Ff. ii. 38 f. 51. Thow schalt be an apersey, my sone, In mylys ij, or thre.
1501. Dunbar, Poems, Supplt. (1865), 277. London, thowe arte of townes A per se.
1567. Drant, Horace Epist., II. i. If they make them A per se Aes that none are like to them.
1578. Gude and Godlie Ballates, 128. Christ Jesus is ane A per C, And peirlesse Prince of all mercy.
1602. Middleton, Blurt, III. iii. Who that is the a-per-se of all, the very cream of all.
2. A 1. Applied in Lloyd’s Register to ships in first-class condition, as to hull and stores alike. ‘The character A denotes New ships, or Ships Renewed or Restored. The Stores of Vessels are designated by the figures 1 and 2; 1 signifying that the vessel is well and sufficiently found.’—Key to the Register. Added to the names of ships, as the ‘fast-sailing ship “Sea-breeze,” A 1 at Lloyd’s,’ or used attributively, ‘the splendid A 1 clipper-built ship “Miranda.”’
Hence, fig. (familiar and savoring of commercial phraseology), A 1, or in U.S. A No. 1, is used adjectively for ‘prime, first-class.’
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, 341 (1847). ‘He must be a first-rater,’ said Sam. ‘A 1,’ replied Mr. Roker.
1851. Mrs. Stowe, Dred, I. 313. An A number one cook, and no mistake.
1861. Col. G. Wolseley (Reynolds’ Newsp., Nov. 24). The Chinese police are certainly A 1 at such work.
