amyztli

The Mexican name of a species of Sea-lion ( Otaria ), found on the sea-coasts and estuaries of the American Pacific coast. Its skin is valued on account of the length and softne of its hair. ăn, article . [A.S. an, œn = (1) one; (2) single, sole, another; (3) a certain one, some one; (4) any, every one, all. In Sw. en; Dan. en, een; Dut. een, eene; Ger. ein; Gael. aon ; Irish ein, ean, aon; Welsh un , yn , Cornish uynyn; Arm. yunau ; Lith. wena ; Fr. un , on ; Sp. uno , un; Port. hum Ital. uno; Lat. unus; Gr. εἷς (he is), masc., ev (hen), neut. = one.] [ONE.] I. Its form : The indefinite article, and at first its only form, being placed before words beginning with a consonant, no le than those commencing with a vowel, as is still the case with the similar word one. [ONE.] (See the subjoined examples in which an is used before a consonant.) "He it setten on an mirie stede." Story of Gen, and Exod . (1250), ed. Morris, 680. "In a weie an time he cam."- Ibid . , 1,435. "On an busk rane and wel tid i."- Ibid., 2,015. " An kire."- Ibid., 2, 451. "An wis man."- Ibid . , 2,649, " An sel."- Ibid ., 2,769. Now the form a occurs as well as an. For rules as to when the one and when the other is employed, see A. as a part of speech (A., V., page 1). See also Moon's Bad English (1868), pp. 56, . In some words now beginning with n, that letter has become detached from a , and has adhered to the commencement of the subsequent word, which formerly began with a vowel. Thus, in East Anglia, according to Forby, an a is called a nasil or nazzle , le., an asil, or an azzle . Similarly, a newt, originally called an eft, evet, or ewt . In adder , again, the contrary appears to have happened: it was at first a nadder , and became an adder . So also with apron , originally napron . [ADDER, NATRIX.] II. Its signification: The primary signification of an is (1) one , in a very indefinite sense, any one; (2) each; (3) any; (4) one in parti cular; (5) every. [See A as a part of speech (A, V., p. 1). See also Moon's Bad English, p. 89.] Sometimes an , like a, is placed before a participle or an adjective without in any way altering the meaning. "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."- Matt . iv. 2. ăn, conj . A contracted form of AND (q.v.). Wedgwood thinks this may have come from e'en, a contraction of even ; O. Sw. œan = and yet, still, continuously. Horne Tooke derives it from A.S. unnan = to give. In Lat. an is = or, or whether; Gr. av (an), contraction from ἐάν ( ean ) = if, haply, perchance; Arab. & Sam. an = if; E. Aram. אָן )an) and אין (ayin) = if, or whether.] An is obsolete in English, but still exists in Scotch. 1. If. * (a) Old English: IMG:content-0485.png:[blocks in formation] "Thurch mani a cuntrè vp an doun." Amis & Amiloun, 1,798. ăn, or a, as a prefix , derived from the Greek. [Gr. ἀν (an), or à, generally called à ( alpha ) privative, but av , and not a, is the original form. In English, Anglo-Saxon, Old Saxon, German of ali ages, and Goth. un; Dut. on; Old Norse & Sw o ; Dan. u ; Wel. an ; Gael. ana, an, am; Lat. in; Sanse. an .] From a study of its use in Gaelic, Prof. Key infers that it originally signified badly , from which there came the senses (2) of negation, and (3) of intensity. Badne is a negation of good, and the more intense that it is, the more is it worthy of the name of badne . [See Prof. Key's Philological E ays (1868), pp. 127-148.] Now an priv. is used before a vowel, and a before a consonant, as anomalous , atheist.