Meanings
-a-1
- Connective interfix used in forming compounds, often no longer carrying a distinct meaning.
Synonyms: o'
-a-2
-a-3
alternative à · alternative -à-
- Connective infix encountered in loanwords and phrases, generally no longer carrying a distinct meaning.
-a-4
-a-5
- medicineA monoclonal antibody derived from a rat.
Synonyms & antonyms
interfixConnective interfix used in forming compounds, often no longer carrying a distinct meaning.
Origin
-a- · interfix
From of a (as in half-a-crown) or of (as in jack-a-napes from Middle English Jak of Naples). Some terms have fully incorporated the use, as ragamuffin and jackanape(s); others arise from mistaken assimilation to the form, as all-a-gog and cock-a-leekie.
Full word history & related roots →-a- · conjunction
From earlier a (attested by the 14th c.), as a contraction of and and its various Middle English forms.
Full word history & related roots →-a- · infix
- Frenchà“various prepositions”
- English-a-
From French à (“various prepositions”) and related prepositions in other Romance languages. Also from related misunderstandings, as all-a-mort from French à la morte.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
-a-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-a-
“-a-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-a-. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-a-,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-a-.
Source: -a- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.