-an
English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Română · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
-an
- /ən/ British, Southern, Standard
Where it comes from
From Middle English -an, regularly -ain, -ein, -en, from Old French -ain, -ein, or before i, -en (modern French -ain, -en, feminine -aine, -enne), from Latin -ānus (feminine -āna), which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun, being -nus [cognate with Ancient Greek -νος (-nos)] preceded by a vowel, from Proto-Indo-European *-nós. Cognate with English -en. Compare with -in, -ine.
suffix more -an · most -an · -ans · -ian · -n
-
Of or pertaining to; an adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. (Often added to words of Latin origin, but also used with words of other origins. When a word ends in a, -n is used instead.)
Rome + -an → Roman
Similar: -al, -ar, -ese, -esque, -ic, -id, -ish, -like, -oid, -ous, -y
- One from, belonging to, relating to, or like.
- Appended to nouns to form an occupation. (When males with a profession are distinguished from females, males are -an, females -(i)enne.) comedy + -an → comedian
- Appended to words indicating sugars to form a polysaccharide. glucose + -an → glucan
Translations
Talk about this word "-an." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/-an. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. -an. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/-an "-an." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/-an.Cite this
@misc{an_2026,
title = {-an},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-an},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
