-an

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 369 words | Copyright

-an repr. L. -ānus, -āna, -ānum of or belonging to, as in silvānus SILVAN, urbānus URBAN. The F. form -ain, -aine was at first retained in some adoptions, but was later superseded by -an. In german, germane, human, humane, urban, urbane, there is differentiation of meaning by the use of different forms of the suffix. See also -EAN, -IAN.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

T. F. HOAD. "-an." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-an." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-an4.html

T. F. HOAD. "-an." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-an4.html

Learn more about citation styles