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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Translingual
Symbol
ab
( international standards ) ISO 639-1 language code for Abkhaz .
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Abs
Abbreviation of abdominal muscles .
Noun
ab (plural abs )
( informal ) abdominal muscle .
2006 , H. Peter Steeves, The Things Themselves , page 75 :The bikinied models in most of the ESPN2 shows have abs . Many of the malnourished bikinied models in the commercials have visible rib cages. How did the two get conflated into a shared vision of beauty?
2010 , Bill Geiger, "6-pack Abs in 9 Weeks", Reps! 17:106
When possible, do your ab workout on a day when you're not training a major muscle group .
Usage notes
Most often used attributively. Substantive use is more common in the plural form abs .
Translations
Etymology 2
Abbreviation of abscess .
Noun
ab (plural abs )
( slang ) An abscess caused by injecting an illegal drug, usually heroin .
Translations
an abscess caused by injecting an illegal drug
Etymology 3
Abbreviations.
Verb
ab (third-person singular simple present abs , present participle abbing , simple past and past participle abbed )
( climbing , informal ) To abseil .
1998 , Climbing , numbers 178-180 , page 22 :I had a climbing rope in my pack, set up an abseil with it, and abbed down to him.
Abbreviation of abort .
Noun
ab
Abbreviation of abortion .
Preposition
ab
Abbreviation of about .
Adverb
ab
Abbreviation of about .
Etymology 4
From the spelling books and the fact that it was the first of the letter combinations.
Noun
ab (plural abs )
( US ) The early stages of; the beginning process; the start.
References
^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “ab”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles , 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press , →ISBN , page 2.
^ Mathews, Mitford M, ed. A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles. 1st. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956.
“ab”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin , 2000, →ISBN .
"ab " in Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, 2002.
“ab ”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged , Dictionary.com, LLC , 1995–present.
Anagrams
Aynu
Etymology
Borrowed from Persian آب ( âb ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ab
water
References
Otto Ladstätter, Andreas Tietze, Die Abdal (Äynu) in Xinjiang (1994)
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Borrowed from Classical Persian آب ( āb ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ab (definite accusative abı , plural ablar )
( Classical Azerbaijani ) water
Synonym: su
Declension
Related terms
Blagar
Noun
ab
fish
References
A. Schapper (citing Steinhauer), Elevation in the spatial deictic systems of Alor-Pantar languages , in The Alor-Pantar languages: History and Typology , edited by Marian Klamer
ASJP , citing L. C. Robinson and G. Holton, Internal classification of the Alor-Pantar language family using computational methods applied to the lexicon (2012)
Catalan
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ap/
( Before a voiced consonant or a vowel ) IPA (key ) : /ab/
( Before a voiced consonant or a vowel in betacist dialects ) IPA (key ) : /aβ/
Preposition
ab
Obsolete form of amb .
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
Persian
Noun
ab
water
Synonyms: suv , su , bum-bum
Declension
References
Danish
Etymology 1
From Latin ab ( “ of, from ” ) .
Pronunciation
Preposition
ab
ex (out of, sold from)
from (with the origin in time)
Etymology 2
See abe ( “ to ape, mimic ” ) .
Pronunciation
Verb
ab
imperative of abe
Further reading
East Central German
Particle
ab
( Strehlen and Schömberg, Silesian ) negative particle, do not
East Yugur
Etymology
From Proto-Mongolic *ab- , compare Mongolian авах ( avax ) .
Pronunciation
Verb
ab
to take
Ci ghudal kelese bu cini arasini xuulj' abqu . If you tell a lie I will skin you .
German
Pronunciation
( Germany ) IPA (key ) : /ap/ , /ɑp/
( Switzerland, Austro-Bavarian ) IPA (key ) : /ɑb̥/
Rhymes: -ap
Etymology 1
From Middle High German abe , ab , from Old High German ab , from Proto-West Germanic *ab , from Proto-Germanic *ab .
Preposition
ab ( + dative )
beginning at that time or location; from
Ab heute verfügbar.Available from today.
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From adverbial use of the preposition in verbs such as abschlagen , abgehen etc. Compare English off .
Adjective
ab (strong nominative masculine singular ( nonstandard ) abber , not comparable )
( colloquial , predicative ) off ; not attached to anything anymore
Der Arm ist ab . The arm is (hewn) off .
( nonstandard , attributive ) off ; not attached to anything anymore
Der abbe Arm ist verschwunden. The (hewn) off arm has disappeared.
Usage notes
The predicative use is common in colloquial German throughout the country.
The attributive forms are mostly used in Western and Northern Germany and are considerably less common than the predicative use. They used to be used mostly jocularly , but become gradually more frequent since they are much shorter than the appropriate full verb forms such as abgetrennt ( “ disconnected, severed ” ) .
The inflected attributive forms retain the devoiced consonant. Hence, sometimes they are spelled with p , rather than b : appes Bein .
Declension
Positive forms of ab (uncomparable )
Related terms
Indonesian
Noun
ab (first-person possessive abku , second-person possessive abmu , third-person possessive abnya )
small pot
(dated) father (aba )
Interlingua
Preposition
ab
from
Irish
Etymology 1
From Latin abbas ( “ father ” ) , from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς ( abbâs ) , from Aramaic אַבָּא ( ’abbā , “ father ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ab m (genitive singular aba , nominative plural abaí )
( Christianity ) abbot
Coordinate terms: ban-ab , máthairab
Declension
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Contraction of the relative particle a and the prevocalic variant of the past/conditional copula particle b’ .
Pronunciation
Particle
ab
Alternative form of ba ( used in relative clauses before a vowel sound ) .
Fear maith ab ea é. He was a good man.
buachaill ab áirde ná mo dheartháir ― a boy (who was) taller than my brother
Related terms
Irish copular forms
Simple copular forms
Present/future
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
Neg. inter.
Main clauses
is
ní
an
nach
Direct relative clauses
nach
Indirect relative clauses
ar , arb v
Other subordinate clauses
gur , gurb v
an
nach
Past/conditional
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
Neg. inter.
Main clauses
ba , b’ v
níor , níorbh v
ar , arbh v
nár , nárbh v
Direct relative clauses
ba , ab v
nár , nárbh v
Indirect relative clauses
ar , arbh v
Other subordinate clauses
gur , gurbh v
ar , arbh v
nár , nárbh v
Present subjunctive
Affirmative
Negative
gura , gurab v
nára , nárab v
Compound copular forms
Base word
Present/future
Past/conditional
cá
cár , cárb v
cár , cárbh v
cé
cér , cérb v
cér , cérbh v
dá
dá mba , dá mb’ v
de /do
dar , darb v
dar , darbh v
faoi
faoinar , faoinarb v
faoinar , faoinarbh v
i
inar , inarb v
inar , inarbh v
le
lenar , lenarb v
lenar , lenarbh v
má
más
má ba , má b’ v
mura
mura , murab v
murar , murarbh v
ó ( prep. )
ónar , ónarb v
ónar , ónarbh v
ó ( conj. )
ós
ó ba , ó b’ v
trí
trínar , trínarb v
trínar , trínarbh v
v Used before vowel sounds
Mutation
Irish mutation
Radical
Eclipsis
with h -prothesis
with t -prothesis
ab
n-ab
hab
t-ab
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
Further reading
Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “ab ”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla , Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Entries containing “ab ” in English-Irish Dictionary , An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe .
Entries containing “ab ” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
K'iche'
Pronunciation
Noun
ab
hammock
steam
mist
References
Kein
Noun
ab
fire
Further reading
Latin
Alternative forms
ā (not used before a vowel or h)
abs (archaic, exclusively used before the pronoun te )
af (archaic )
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *ap , from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ( “ off, away ” ) (whence English off , of and after ). See also po- . Cognate with ᾰ̓πό ( apó ) .
The ablative is actually from the PIE ablative.
Pronunciation
Preposition
ab (+ ablative )
( indicating ablation ) : from , away from, out of
( indicating ablation ) : down from
( indicating agency ) : ( source of action or event ) by , by means of
( indicating instrumentality ) : ( source of action or event ) by , by means of , with
106 BCE – 43 BCE ,
Cicero ,
Oration in favor of P. Sestius Pro P. Sestio Oratio.Ch. 42, sect. 92:
Horum utro uti nolumus, altero est utendum. vim volumus exstingui, ius valeat necesse est, id est iudicia, quibus omne ius continetur; iudicia displicent aut nulla sunt, vis dominetur necesse est. hoc vident omnes: Milo et vidit et fecit, ut ius experiretur, vim depelleret. altero uti voluit, ut virtus audaciam vinceret; altero usus necessario est, ne virtus ab audacia vinceretur . ...so that virtue might not be overwhelmed by insolence .
( indicating association ) : to , with
( indicating location ) : at , on , in
( time ) after , since
Usage notes
Used in conjunction with passive verbs to mark the agent.
Liber ā discipulō aperītur. The book is opened by the student.
Descendants
French: à
Italian: a
Spanish: a
Portuguese: a
→ Norwegian Bokmål: a , ab ( learned )
Further reading
“ab ”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary , Oxford: Clarendon Press
ab in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français , Hachette
ab - ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ (since 2011) Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch) University of Chicago .
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book , London: Macmillan and Co. a gentle ascent: collis leniter ab infimo acclivis (opp. leniter a summo declivis ) the east winds are blowing: venti ab ortu solis flant the Rhone is the frontier between the Helvetii and the Sequani: Rhodanus Sequanos ab Helvetiis dividit to be far from town: longe, procul abesse ab urbe to devote every spare moment to...; to work without intermission at a thing: nullum tempus intermittere, quin (also ab opere , or ad opus ) in the fifth year from the founding of the city: anno ab urbe condita quinto to be always at a person's side: ab alicuius latere non discedere to turn one's gaze away from an object: oculos deicere, removere ab aliqua re to trace one's descent from some one: originem ab aliquo trahere, ducere a native of England: ortus ab Anglis or oriundus ex Anglis from one's entry into civil life: ab ineunte (prima) aetate (De Or. 1. 21. 97) to begin with a thing: initium capere; incipere ab aliqua re to start from small beginnings: ab exiguis initiis proficisci the motive, cause, is to be found in..: causa repetenda est ab aliqua re (not quaerenda ) to originate in, arise from: ab aliqua re proficisci to rescue from destruction: ab exitio, ab interitu aliquem vindicare to gain a person's esteem, friendship: gratiam inire ab aliquo or apud aliquem to look favourably upon; to support: propenso animo, studio esse or propensa voluntate esse in aliquem (opp. averso animo esse ab aliquo ) to gain one's point with any one: aliquid ab aliquo impetrare to win golden opinions from every one: maximam ab omnibus laudem adipisci to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bene, male audire (ab aliquo) to use up, make full use of one's spare time: otio abūti or otium ad suum usum transferre to draw away some one's attention from a thing: alicuius animum ab aliqua re abducere to hold the same views: idem sentire (opp. dissentire ab aliquo ) to apply to a person for advice: consilium petere ab aliquo to rescue from oblivion: aliquid ab oblivione vindicare to be quite uncivilised: ab omni cultu et humanitate longe abesse (B. G. 1. 1. 3) to be educated by some one: litteras discere ab aliquo to receive instruction from some one: institui or erudiri ab aliquo to derive an argument from a thing: argumentum ducere, sumere ex aliqua re or petere ab aliqua re to disagree with a person: dissentire, dissidere ab or cum aliquo to go back to the remote ages: repetere ab ultima (extrema, prisca) antiquitate (vetustate), ab heroicis temporibus to have no taste for the fine arts: abhorrere ab artibus (opp. delectari artibus ) to go a long way back (in narrative): longe, alte (longius, altius) repetere (either absolute or ab aliqua re ) no sound passed his lips: nulla vox est ab eo audita to extract an answer from some one: responsum ab aliquo ferre, auferre to translate from Plato: ab or de (not ex ) Platone vertere, convertere, transferre to form, derive a word from... (used of the man who first creates the word): vocabulum, verbum, nomen ducere ab, ex... the word amicitia comes from amare : nomen amicitiae (or simply amicitia ) dicitur ab amando to be separated by a deadly hatred: capitali odio dissidere ab aliquo (De Am. 1. 2) to prevent some one from growing angry, appease his anger: animum alicuius ab iracundia revocare to revenge oneself on some one: ulcisci aliquem, poenas expetere ab aliquo to revenge oneself on another for a thing or on some one's behalf: poenas alicuius or alicuius rei repetere ab aliquo to protect any one from wrong: ab iniuria aliquem defendere to neglect one's duty: ab officio discedere to neglect one's duty: de, ab officio decedere to let oneself be perverted from one's duty: ab officio abduci, avocari to have an inclination for a thing: propensum, proclivem esse ad aliquid (opp. alienum, aversum esse, abhorrere ab aliqua re ) the principles which I have followed since I came to man's estate: meae vitae rationes ab ineunte aetate susceptae (Imp. Pomp. 1. 1.) to summon some one from the dead: aliquem ab inferis or a mortuis evocare, excitare (passive ab inferis exsistere ) to ask for an oracular response: oraculum petere (ab aliquo) from beginning to end: ab ovo usque ad mala (proverb.) the conversation began with..: sermo ortus est ab aliqua re something has been left as a legacy by some one: hereditate aliquid relictum est ab aliquo I have received a legacy from a person: hereditas ad me or mihi venit ab aliquo (Verr. 2. 1. 10) to lend, borrow money at interest: pecuniam fenori (fenore) alicui dare, accipere ab aliquo to borrow money from some one: pecuniam mutuari or sumere mutuam ab aliquo to demand an account, an audit of a matter: rationem alicuius rei reposcere aliquem or ab aliquo to demand an account, an audit of a matter: rationem ab aliquo reptere de aliqua re (Cluent. 37. 104) to gain some one's favour: gratiam inire apud aliquem, ab aliquo (cf. sect. V. 12) to be on a person's side (not ab alicuius partibus ): ab (cum) aliquo stare (Brut. 79. 273) to hold different views in politics: ab aliquo in re publica dissentire to deliver some one from slavery: ab aliquo servitutem or servitutis iugum depellere to exact a penalty from some one: poenam petere, repetere ab aliquo to exact a penalty from some one: poenas expetere ab aliquo to lay down arms: ab armis discedere (Phil. 11. 33) to demand satisfaction, restitution: res repetere (ab aliquo) (Off. 1. 11. 36) to gain a victory over the enemy: victoriam reportare ab hoste putting aside, except: cum discessi, -eris, -eritis ab
Lingua Latina, Hans H. Ørberg, 2005.
Latvian
Conjunction
ab
( archaic ) or
Synonyms
Preposition
ab
( archaic ) around
Synonyms
Livonian
Pronunciation
Noun
a'b
( anatomy ) shoulder
help
Usage notes
LĒL also features a partitive plural form with -īdi as in the example abīdi nustõ "to shrug."
Declension
Middle Irish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Irish aub , from Proto-Celtic *abū .
Noun
ab f (genitive aba )
river
Descendants
Mutation
Middle Irish mutation
Radical
Lenition
Nasalization
ab
unchanged
n-ab
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From German ab ( “ from ” ) , from Middle High German ab , from Old High German ab ( “ of ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *ab ( “ away, away from ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ( “ off, away ” ) .
Preposition
ab
( economics ) from ; (i.e. delivered) for the seller's expense at a location and forwarded for the buyer's expense
ab Frankfurt ― from Frankfurt
ab varelager ― from inventory
ab fabrikk ― from factory
( economics , obsolete ) as of
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Latin ab ( “ from, away from, on, in ” ) , from Proto-Italic *ab , from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ( “ off, away ” ) .
Pronunciation
( modern ) IPA (key ) : /ˈɑːbə/
( older ) IPA (key ) : /ɑˈbeː/
( modern )
( older )
Rhymes: -ɑːbə , -eː
Hyphenation: a‧b
Preposition
ab
Only used in ab ovo ( “ ab ovo ” )
Etymology 3
Abbreviation of avbetaling ( “ installment ” ) , verbal noun form of avbetale ( “ to pay off ” ) , a compound of av + betale , first part av ( “ of, from, by, off ” ) , from Old Norse af ( “ of, from, off, by ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *ab ( “ away from ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ( “ off, away ” ) + second part betale ( “ pay, purchase ” ) , from Middle Low German betalen ( “ of, from, off, by ” ) , last part is the suffix -ing ( “ -ing ” ) , from Old Norse -ingr m , -ingi m , -ing f , from Proto-Germanic *-ingō , *-ungō .
Noun
ab
( colloquial ) Abbreviation of avbetaling ( “ installment ” ) .
1974 , Kari Bakke, Gråspurven , page 22 :møbler og vaskemaskin på AB furniture and washing machine on installments
Derived terms
Related terms
References
“ab_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB ).
“ab_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB ).
“ab_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB ).
“ab ” in Store norske leksikon
Occitan
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin ab .
Preposition
ab
( Guardiol ) with
References
Pei, Mario A. 1948. Ab and the survival of the Latin genitive in Old Italian. Italica 25. 104–106.
Old French
Etymology
Reduced form of Latin apud .
Preposition
ab
( 10th century ) with
Synonyms
avoec ( used throughout Old French into the Middle and modern French periods )
Old High German
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *ab .
Preposition
ab
of
Descendants
Old Occitan
Etymology
Reduced form of Latin apud
Preposition
ab
with
c. 1000 , unknown, Lo Poèma de Boecis :Non comprarias ab mil liuras d’argent. you couldn't buy with a thousand pounds of silver.
Descendants
Parauk
Pronunciation
Verb
ab
to give , hand over .
Pennsylvania German
Etymology
Compare German ab , Dutch af , English off .
Preposition
ab
off
from
away
Pumpokol
Noun
ab
father
Scots
Etymology
Uncertain. Compare English hobble , Dutch hobbelen ( “ to lurch ” ) , Danish happe ( “ to stutter ” ) , Norwegian jabba ( “ to stammer ” ) and colloquial Swedish happla ( “ to stutter ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ab (plural abs )
( Orkney ) impediment , hindrance , objection .
Verb
ab (simple past abed )
( Orkney ) to hinder
References
Scottish Gaelic
Noun
ab m (genitive singular aba , plural abachan )
Alternative form of aba
Sumerian
Romanization
ab
Romanization of 𒀊 ( ab )
Romanization of 𒀖 ( ab )
Turkish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkish آب ( āb , “ water ” ) , from Persian آب ( âb ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ab (definite accusative abı , plural ablar )
( obsolete , poetic ) water
References
Volapük
Etymology
Borrowed from German aber ( “ but ” ) .
Conjunction
ab
but
Welsh
Etymology
From fab , soft mutation of mab ( “ son ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
ab
A patronymic indicator; son of.
Usage notes
This form is found before vowels. Before a consonant, the form ap is used.
Antonyms
References
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ab ”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Wolof
Article
ab
a /an ( singular indefinite article )
Usage notes
Precedes the noun.