-ant

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English

Etymology

From Middle English -ant, -aunt, partly from Old French -ant, from Latin -āns; and partly (in adjectival derivations) continuing Middle English -ant, a variant of -and, -end, from Old English -ende (present participle ending), see -and.

Suffix

-ant

  1. (now sciences, chiefly medicine) The agent noun derived from verb.
    serveservant
  2. An adjective corresponding to a noun in -ance, having the sense of "exhibiting (the condition or process described by the noun)".
  3. An adjective derived from a verb, having the senses of: (a) "doing (the verbal action)", and/or (b) "prone/tending to do (the verbal action)".
    ascendascendant
    errerrant.
  4. Alternative form of -and
    blatant, blicant; flippant, old-farrant

Usage notes

  • Many words in -ant were not actually coined in English but rather borrowed directly from Old French, Middle French or Modern French.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɑnt/
  • Audio:(file)

Suffix

-ant m (plural -anten, feminine -ante)

  1. appended to the stem of a verb, it yields a noun which signifies the subject who performs the action of that verb (see agent noun)

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French -ant, from Latin -antem, -entem. Compare Italian -ante, -ente, Spanish -ante, -ente, -iente.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ant (invariable)

  1. -ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb
    jouer (to play) + ‎-ant → ‎jouant (playing)

Suffix

-ant (feminine -ante, masculine plural -ants, feminine plural -antes)

  1. -ant, -ing; forms adjectives out of verbs
  2. (rare) forms adjectives from words other than verbs
    abracadabra + ‎-ant → ‎abracadabrant

Suffix

-ant m (plural -ants, feminine -ante)

  1. -er; forms nouns out of verbs

Usage notes

  • French present participles are used, chiefly in literary style, to replace relative clauses. In this case they are not inflected for number and gender: une femme aimant ses enfants (a woman loving her children), equivalent to une femme qui aime ses enfants (a woman who loves her children).
  • Some present participles can also be used as actual adjectives. In this case they are inflected: une femme aimante (a loving/caring woman). This adjectival use is lexicalised, however, which means that it is common only for certain participles, not all (unlike English).

German

Etymology

From Middle High German -ant, from Old French -ant; and also directly from Latin -antis, -ans.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ant m (weak, genitive -anten, plural -anten, feminine -antin)

  1. Forms agent nouns, mostly from verbs of Romance or Latin origin.
    liefern (to supply) + ‎-ant → ‎Lieferant (supplier)

Usage notes

Declension

Derived terms

  • -ans (rare, unproductive synonym from the same source)

Further reading

  • -ant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • -ant” in Duden online

Hungarian

Etymology

From -a- (linking vowel) +‎ -n (instantaneous suffix) +‎ -t (causative suffix).[1]

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ant

  1. (instantaneous suffix) Added to a stem - often an onomatopoeia - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.
    pillant (to glance)

Usage notes

  • (instantaneous suffix) Variants:
    -ant is added to back-vowel words
    -ent is added to front-vowel words

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ^ -ant in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *-ānt, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yónti.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of (first conjugation)

Descendants

  • Old Galician-Portuguese: -an
    • Galician: -an
    • Portuguese: -am
  • Spanish: -an

Middle French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Suffix

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Old French

Etymology

From Latin -āns, -ēns.

Suffix

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Descendants

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French -ant, from Old French -ant, from Latin -āns, -ēns. Doublet of -ający (for -āns), -ejący (for -ēns).

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ant m pers

  1. -ant (agent noun derived from verb)
    kurs + ‎-ant → ‎kursant

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

  • -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Welsh

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Cognate with Cornish -ans.

Alternative forms

Suffix

-ant m (plural -annau)

  1. show the action of a verb or its result, -tion, -ment
    maddau (to forgive) + ‎-ant → ‎maddeuant (forgiveness)

Etymology 2

Suffix

-ant

  1. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural present indicative/future
Derived terms