Etymograph

English

an

An comes from Middle English an ‘a, an’, from Old English ān ‘a, an’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynos1‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ainaz1‘one’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ain1‘one’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ān1‘a’literally ‘one’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500an1‘a’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611an1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English an
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and he…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁óynosWiktionary, English an‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ainazWiktionary, English an‘one’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ainWiktionary, English an‘one’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ānWiktionary, English an‘a’literally ‘one’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anWiktionary, English an‘a’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611anWiktionary, English an. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and he…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ís ‘this, he’

id, universally, yonder, yon, 14 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’

union, unique, universal, unite, null, uno, triune, 21 more

through Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’

no, only, any, none, eleventh, 3 more

through Old English ān ‘a, an’

one, yan, 2 more

Another origin of an

  1. Old Georgianmodernანუ
  2. ka-midmodernან
  3. Georgianmodernანan‘or, either’
  4. Englishtodayan

Another origin of an

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150an
  2. Englishtodayan

Today it means

article Used before a vowel sound.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “an”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos / an

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