Etymology

-a

Today it means: Marks singular nouns, with a foundation in Greek or Latin, often implying femininity, especially when contrasted with words terminating in -us. Full definition →

Latin -a
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-a · suffix1

  1. Latin · learned borrowing from-a
  2. English today-a

Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -um (nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).

-a · suffix2

  1. Ancient Greek · learned borrowing from-α
  2. English today-a

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -α (-a, nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -ον (-on, nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).

-a · suffix3

  1. Latin · learned borrowing from-a
  2. English today-a

Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative first declension neuter singular suffix)

-a · suffix4

  1. Latin · derived from-a
  2. English today-a

Borrowed from Italian -a, Spanish -a, or Portuguese -a, all feminine noun suffixes from Latin -a.

-a · suffix5

Added especially for metrical reasons, or as an empty filler syllable.

-a · suffix6

A contraction of have.

-a · suffix7

Contraction of of.

-a · suffix8

Contraction of to.

-a · suffix9

Contraction of do.

-a · suffix10

A pronunciation spelling of -er, representing the unstressed schwa /ə/ in non-rhotic dialects.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.