a-

1. idiomaticForming verbs with the sense away, up, on, out.

   arise, await

2. idiomaticForming verbs with the sense of intensified action.

   abide, amaze

1. idiomaticrareIn, on, at; used to show a state, condition, or manner. Also passing into sense 2.First known use First attested prior to 1150

   aglow, apace, afire, aboil, a-bling, abluster

2. idiomaticIn, into. Also passing into sense 5.First known use First attested prior to 1150

   asunder

3. In the direction of, or toward.First known use First attested prior to 1150

   astern, abeam

4. archaicdialectalAt such a time.First known use First attested prior to 1150

   Come a-morning we are going hunting.

5. archaicdialectalIn the act or process of. Used in some dialects before a present participle.First known use First attested prior to 1150

   hits a-poppin

   4 more examples

   doins a-transpirin

   The twelfth day of Christmas, My true love sent to me Twelve lords a-leaping, … Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying,

   1780, The Twelve Days of Christmas

   circa 1850, Here We Come A-wassailing/Here We Come A-caroling Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand’ring So fair to be seen.

   Oh waste no words a-wooing The soft sleep to your bed;

   1939, Alfred Edward Housman, Additional Poems, XIII, lines 6-7

alternative i-

1. alternativearchaicdialectalAlternative form of y-. In dialect, it is sometimes conflated with sense 5 of the previous definition, and is used as a general indicator of a participle.First known use First attested around 1150 to 1350 (Middle English).

   aware, alike

2. DevonUsed to form the past participle of a verb.

   I have a-gone.

   1 more example

   I have a-seen a bird.

1. idiomaticForming words with the sense of wholly, or utterly out.First known use First attested from around 1150 to 1350.

   abash

1. Not, without, opposite of.

   amoral, asymmetry, atheism, asexual, acyclic, atypical

   2 more examples

   When invited to believe in the Chimaera, the horse-centaurs, or the winged horse Pegasus, all of them straightforward Pelasgian cult-symbols, a philosopher felt bound to reject them as a-zoölogical improbabilities ….

   1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, page 7

   If aroused outside the proper outlet of marriage, [female lust] could range out of control, turning its possessor into an a-feminine monster: that is what happened to fallen women.

   2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 191

   Synonyms: an-, dys-, i-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, mal-

1. idiomaticTowards; Used to indicate direction, reduction to, increase to, change into, or motion.First known use First attested from around 1150 to 1350.

   ascend, aspire, amass, abandon, avenue

1. idiomaticAway from.First known use First attested from around 1150 to 1350.

   avert, aperient, abridge, assoil, assoilzie

1. idiomaticOf, from.First known use First attested prior to 1150.

   anew, afresh, athirst

1. alternativeAlternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”).

   A-tisket a-tasket, A green and yellow basket

1. ChesterUsed as a prefix to verbs in the sense of remaining in the same condition. Actively doing something.

   a-be, a-going

   1 more example

   Let that choilt a-be, wilt ta?

   Let the child be! will you?