also o. [A worn-down proclitic form of OE. preposition an, on. In compounds and common phrases this became a even in OE., as abútan, a timan. The separate an was labialized to on, which form also (in West Saxon) absorbed the prep. in, and so had the meanings on, in; unto, into, to. In 11th c., on began to be reduced before consonants to o, which from its tonelessness soon sank to a (ă). Before a vowel an was occasionally used; when emphatic on remained. The separate a is now rarely used, being replaced by the full on, in, or the various prepositions which represent them in modern idiom; except in a few verbal constructions, as to go a begging, to set a going; and in temporal distributive phrases, as twice a day, once a year, where it has been confused with the ‘indefinite article.’ See A adj.2 4. But the preposition a really remains in a large number of combinations, where present spelling treats it as a prefix to the governed word, and the whole as a compound adverb, as abed, afoot, aback, around, atop, afloat, asleep, alive. As these combinations are now viewed as individual words, they will be found in their alphabetical places. The separate uses of a, treated here, are very numerous, but all included in those of OE. on.]
1. Superposition: on; as a the ground, a water and a land, a the book, a the rood, a bed, a bench, a shipboard, a wheels, a foot, a horseback. Obs. except in a few combinations, abed, aboard, ashore, afield, afoot, etc.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, in Lamb. Hom., 173. Wise men … a boken hit writen, þer [me] mei hit reden.
1205. Layamon, III. 7. Þa folc … þat þer eoden a uoten [1250 afote].
a. 1230. Ancren Riwle, 430. Ase ofte ase ȝe readeð out [= aught] o þisse boc.
c. 1420. Lydgate, Stor. Thebes, 1561 (Skeat). But he, allas! was mad light a foote.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. xvii. 18. They are all a horsbacke.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. iii. 42. He … will stand a tip-toe.
1611. Chapman, May-Day (Plays, 1873), II. 328. Let her meditate a my late motion.
1616. Purchas, Pilg., Desc. Ind. (1864), 157. He almost first starued a shipboord.
1645. Howell, Engl. Tears, 173/1. All my neighbour Countreys were a fire.
1861. All Y. Round, V. 13. And made him trot, barefooted, on before Himself, who rode a horseback.
2. Motion: on, upon, on to; as a the ground, a the folk, a the stead, a field, a bed. Obs. exc. as in prec. as go a-shore.
1205. Layamon, I. 97. Moni eotend ic leide dead a þene grund.
c. 1305. E. E. Poems, St. Katherine, 92. [Thou] þus fole maistres of clergie: bringest and settest a benche.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. cxlvii. 176. The quene was brought a bedde of a fayre lady named Margarete.
3. Juxtaposition: on, at; chiefly in the phrases a right (or left) half, a this (or that) side, a God’s half = on God’s side or behalf; and a-to-side = a t’ o side, on (the) one side, aside. Obs. exc. in comb.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 141. And þer stod a richt halue and a leeft: alse an castel wal.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumbras, 1680. A þes half Mantrible þe grete Citee: ys þe brigge y-set.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repressor, 336. In the daies of Princis A this side the Emperour Constantyn.
1477. Earl Rivers, Dictes (Caxton), 1. To sette a parte alle ingratitude.
1483. Caxton, Geoffroi de la Tour, E. v. And bothe … wente and leyd them self abothe his sydes.
1600. Holland, Livy, XXXVII. xi. 950. Those vessels which lay atone side upon the land.
1684. Bunyan, Pilg., II. 67. I thought he gave you something, because he called you a to-side.
† 4. Position or situation: in; as a thy hand, a the world, a the folk, a the shroud, a water, a blood, a Rome. Obs.
c. 1000. Blickl. Hom., 89. On bendum & o wope.
c. 1066. O. E. Chron. (Cott. MS.), an. 1011. Man nolde him átiman gafol beodon.
1205. Layamon, I. 49. A þon heðene lawen [1250 In þan heþene lawe].
a. 1300. Judas, in Reliq. Ant., I. 144. Al it lavede a blode.
1401. Pol. Poems, II. 43. Liȝtly a lewid man maye leyen hem a water.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froissart, II. ccxxxii. 721. So the bysshoppe returned and came into Almaygne, and founde the kyng a Conualence.
1608. Tourneur, Reveng. Tragœdie, V. i. 129. That ’s enow a’ conscience!
1660. Harrington, Prerog. of Pop. Sov. (1700), II. v. 362. Which is enough, a conscience!
5. General direction or position: in the direction of, towards; as, a back, a fore, a far, a head, a side. Still used in comb. aback, etc.
c. 1420. Lydgate, Stor. Thebes, 1170 (Skeat, Spec. Eng. Lit.). And the remnaunt amased drogh a bak.
6. Partition: in, into; as a two, a three, a twelve, a pieces. Obs. except in comb. asunder, apart.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 141. And þa fouwer weren ideled a twelue.
c. 1280. E. E. Poems, Fall & Passion, 14. Hir þoȝt hir hert wol a two.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De Pr. R., III. xii. The vertu sensible þat meueþ is departid a thre [ed. 1535 on thre, 1582 in three].
1509. Fisher, Wks. (1876), 55. An other sawed a two.
1535. Coverdale, Acts i. 18. & brast a sunder in the myddes.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. iv. 80. Being torne a pieces.
1623. Bingham, Hist. Xenophon, 75. Their legs and sides crushed, and broken a peeces.
† 7. Position in a series: at, in; as a first, a last, a the(n) end. Obs.
1205. Layamon, III. 106. ꝥ he com a þan ende.
a. 1230. Ancr. R., 46. A last schal siggen, hwo se con: Oremus.
8. Time: in, on, by; as a day, a night, an eve, a morrow, a Monday, a doom’s day. Occ. prefixed to OE. adverbial genitives dæȝes and nihtes, giving a nights, now-a-days. Obs. exc. in a few archaic phrases.
c. 1000. Ags. Gospels, Mark iv. 27. & sawe & arise daeʓes & nihtes [Lindisf. & slepeð & arisað on næht and on daeʓ. Hatton, & sawe & arise daiʓes & nihtes]. Ibid., Luke xxi. 37. He was on dæʓ on þam temple lærende · & on niht he eode & wunode on þam munte.
1205. Layamon, II. 401. Ȝif mon mihte mid crafte · a dæi oðer a nihte [1250 Bi daiȝe oþer bi nihte].
a. 1200. Cotton Hom., 239. A domes deie.
1362. Langland, P. Pl., A i. 99. And not to faste a Friday.
c. 1430. Syr Generides, 1797. Sith yesterday a eve, This sekenes first did him greve.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froissart, II. xxvii. 77. He had not thanne this vsage to ryn a nyghtes, as he doeth nowe.
1575. Laneham, Letter, 20 (1871). A Sunday, opportunely, the weather brake vp again.
1601. Shaks., Jul. Cæs., I. ii. 193. Let me haue men about me, that are fat, Sleekeheaded men, and such as sleepe a-nights.
1669. Digby, Closet Opened (1677), 134. Monsieur de Bourdeaux used to take a mornings a broth thus made.
1688. Bunyan, Holy War, 336. The bold villain … lurks in the Diabolonian dens a days and haunts like a ghost honest men’s houses a nights.
1721. Swift, Epist. Corr., II. 557. Why did you not set out a Monday, like a true country parson?
b. Especially, with adverbs of repetition: once, twice, many times, oft a day (OE. on dæȝe), twice a week, thrice a year.
c. 1000. Ags. Gospels, Luke xx. 4. Seofan siþun on dæʓ [Lindisf. Scofa siðe on dæʓe].
c. 1150. Hatton Gosp., ibid. Scofen syðan on daiʓ.
a. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 67. Ete nu leinte mete, and enes o day. Ibid., 109. Hie arist anes á dái.
c. 1305. St. Edmund, 72. And werede here þrie a wyke, oþer tueye atte leste.
1382. Wyclif, Exod. xxiii. 17. Thries a ȝeer [1388 in the ȝeer] shal apere al thi maal child before the Lord thi God.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knight’s T., 498. Ful ofte a day he swelte and seyde alas!
1611. Bible, Ps. cxix. 164. Seuen times a day doe I praise thee.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 174. It moves at the rate of between four and five miles an hour.
In this construction a is now generally explained as the ‘indefinite article’; and it has, through such phrases as a penny a day, fourteen shillings a week, led to the use of a to express rate, or proportion, as in a penny a mile, tenpence a pound. Comp. French deux francs par jour, and deux francs la livre. See A adj.2 4.
† 9. Manner: in, with, etc.; as a this wise, a some wise, a gram = in wrath, a scorn, a blisse; a French, a Latin; a great speed, a purpose = on purpose, a color = under color, in the pretence, a that’n = in Cf. OE. on þissre wisan, on Englisc, mod. on this wise, in English. Obs.
1230. Ancren Riwle, 100. Þis is a cruel word, & a grim word mid alle, ꝥ vre Louerd seið ase a grome & a scorn.
c. 1305. E. E. Poems, St. Kath., 92. For ich wole bet þat ȝe hire ouercome: mid resouns a somme wise.
1387. Trevisa, Higden Polychr. (in Morris, Specim., 338). To construe here lessons & here þingis a Freynsch.
c. 1400. Apol. for Lollards, 49. A color of takyng of almis.
1533. More, Answ. to Poysoned Boke (Wks. 1557), 1117/2. Els may he neuer make himself so sure, and face it out a this fashion.
1590. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, IV. iii. 312. Stands here a purpose.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, II. iii. 265. Why dooest thou garter vp thy armes a this fashion?
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, III. vii. 218 (1866). [A sailor says] An’ you stand astern a that’n we two will never grapple together.
† 10. Capacity: in any one’s name; esp. a God’s name. Obs.
c. 1300. Life of Beket, 146. And wende forth a Godes name: to the holi londe.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Doctor’s T., 250. Do with your child your wille, a goddes name!
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. cxix. 142. Let them depart whyder they woll a goddes name.
a. 1577. Northbrooke, Against Dicing (1843), 152. Daunce a God’s name.
1577. Vautroullier, Luther’s Ep. to Galathians, 129. Worke on a Gods blessing.
1600. Holland, Livy, IX. iv. 315/2. Go then, Consuls, a gods name, redeem the cittie.
1702. Pope, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, 48. Let such (a God’s name) with fine wheat be fed.
11. State: in; as a live, a sleep, a work, a jar, a thirst, a blaze, a fright, a float, a stare. In these the word governed by a was originally a noun, e.g., life, sleep, work, float (‘on the Mediterranean flote,’ Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 234), but being often the verbal sb. of state or act, it has been in modern times erroneously taken as a verb, and used as a model for forming such adverbial phrases from any verb, as a-wash, a-blaze, a-bask, a-swim, a-flaunt, a-blow, a-dance, a-run, a-stare, a-gaze, a-howl, a-tremble, a-shake, a-jump. These are purely modern and analogical.
1205. Layamon, I. 59. Wel wes him on liue. [1250 Wel was him aliue.]
c. 1225. Sawles Warde, 249. Lest sum for-truste him, ant feole o slepe.
1533. More, Answ. to Poysoned Boke, Wks. (1557), 1119/1. Al the while that al those holy folke were a worke therwith.
1556. Chron. Grey Friars, 47. And [they] sette it alle a fyer, and went their wayes agayne.
1611. Cotgr., Estre au dessus du vent, To flourish, live in prosperitie, be al a flaunt, or a hoight.
1611. Bible, 2 Chron. ii. 18. Three thousand and sixe hundred ouerseers to set the people a worke.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle, v. 1843. One straight falles a sleep.
1663. Spalding, Troubles in reign of Chas. I. (1829), 44. The soldiers sleeping carelessly in the bottom of the ship upon heather, were all a-swim, through the water that came in at the holes and leaks of the ship.
1868. Morning Star, 18 June. Rocks which are a-wash at low tide.
12. Process; with a verbal sb. taken passively: in process of, in course of, undergoing. Varying with in: ‘forty and six years was this temple in building.’ arch. or dial.
(In modern language the a is omitted and the verbal sb. treated as a participle, passive in sense; as the house was a building, the house was building. In still more modern speech a formal participle passive appears: the house was being built.)
1393. Langland, P. Pl., C iv. 51. We haue a wyndow a worchyng.
1489. Caxton, Faytes of Armes, I. xiv. 37. Suche fortyfycacyons are in dooyng.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. cxx. 143. Ther they brake all [the bridge] to peaces that had been longe a makynge.
1598. Stow, Survay of London, i. 3 (1603). Whilst these things were a doing.
1611. Bible, 1 Peter iii. 20. In the dayes of Noah while the Arke was a preparing.
1662. H. More, Ant. ag. Atheism (1712), III. xiii. 130. The shrieks of men while they are a murthering.
1692. Bentley, B. L., 211. The state or condition of matter before the world was a-making, which is compendiously exprest by the word chaos.
1727. Wodrow, Corresp. (1843), III. 296. To-morrow, all day, papers will be a-reading.
13. Action; with a verbal sb. taken actively.
a. with be: engaged in. arch. or dial.
(In literary Eng. the a is omitted, and the verbal sb. treated as a participle agreeing with the subject, and governing its case, to be fishing, fighting, making anything. But most of the southern dialects, and the vulgar speech both in England and America, retain the earlier usage.)
1523. Ld. Berners, Froissart, I. xviii. 20. They had ben a fyghtyng with theyr ennemies.
c. 1590. Horsey, Travels (Hakl. Soc.), 163. His enyme … that was a preparinge to invade his countrys.
1683. trans. Erasmus, Moriae Encomium, 18. She imitates me in being always a laughing.
1684. Bunyan, Pilg., II. (1862), 209. She is a taking of her last farewell of her Country.
1716–8. Lady M. W. Montagu, Letters, I. xxvii. 88. Orders… which may possibly be a month a-coming.
1769. Robertson, Charles V., III. VIII. 65. The tempest which had been so long a gathering was ready to break forth.
1815. Leigh Hunt, Feast of the Poets, 11. You’d have thought ’twas the Bishops or Judges a coming.
1845. Disraeli, Sybil, 296 (Routl.). ‘A-dropping wages, and a-raising tommy like fun,’ said Master Waghorn.
b. with verb of motion: to, into; to go a fishing, come a wooing, fall a laughing, crying, fighting, to set the bells a ringing, to send children a begging. Arch. or dial. save in a few phrases, as to go a begging (mostly of offices); and with set, as to set the clock a going, the bells a ringing, folk a thinking, where also a is often omitted.
1382. Wyclif, John xxi. 3. I go to fische.
1523. Tindale, Ibid. I goo a fysshynge.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utopia, 43. Whither, I pray you, but a beggynge or elles a stealing.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel. (1651), III. 4. i. 3. 667. … he would burst out a laughing.
1692. Bentley, B. L., 61. Watches must be wound up to set them a going.
1715. Burnet, Hist. own Time, II. 207 (1766). As soon as he was taken he fell a crying.
1788. Th. Jefferson, Writings, II. 373 (1859). We were able to set the loan a going again.
1838. J. S. Knowles, Maid of Mariendorp, I. i.
| A smoking dish | |
| Was sure to set my heart a-beating once. |
Mod. Such positions rarely go a begging.
