-a
UK/ɑ/
-a is the plural of -um.
-a is the plural of -on.
-a is the alternative form of 've.
-a is the clitic form of o'.
-a is the pronunciation spelling of -er.
Suffix (1)
UK/ə/
-a (plural -as or -ae)
Meaning of -um
Suffix (1)
- Denotes singular grammatical number.
- Forms the ends of the names of certain elements (such as molybdenum and platinum).
Suffix (2)
-um
- Denotes transitive verbs in the trade pidgins used between English-speakers and indigenous populations; used derogatorily by extension in English by addition to any verb, transitive or not.
- Having finished her return of deaths, she went on to say "Black fellow sick—white lady fowl sendum—white lady kangaroo sendum—master all self eatum—" but here she paused and made an exception in favour of the matron, expressed by the words " Missis not eatum—missis good fellow."1871, Mrs. Edward Millett, An Australian parsonage; or, The settler and the savage in Western Australia, page 129
Meaning of -on
Suffix (1)
-on
- Forming nouns denoting subatomic particles and quanta.
- photon, proton
Suffix (2)
-on
- Forming names of noble gases and certain nonmetal elements.
- boron, silicon
Suffix (3)
-on
- Forming names of things considered as basic or fundamental units.
- codon, recon
Suffix (4)
-on
- Forms names for chemical compounds, often proprietary.
Suffix (2)
UK/ə/
-a
- Marks nouns, with a foundation in Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, implying femininity.
- donna
- signora
Suffix (3)
UK/ə/
-a
- Added for metrical reasons to songs, poetry and verse, or as an empty filler syllable to other speech.
- A merry heart goes all the day
Your sad tires in a mile-ac. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount... - I love to sing-a / about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a, / I love to sing-a / about a sky of blue-a, or a tea for two-a.1936 July 18, Leon Schlesinger (producer) / Norman Spencer (music), I Love to Singa
- A merry heart goes all the day
Suffix (4)
UK/ə/
-a
- to (infinitive marker)
- oughta
- wanna
Suffix (5)
UK/ə/
-a
- do (infinitive marker)
- whatta
- Yeah, Flav, I'm tired of them dissing brothers in the P.E. out there, we got to do something about this/(What-a we do? What-a we do?)1988, Living Colour, “Funny Vibe”, Epic
Synonyms of -a
Antonyms
Forms of -a
| plural | -as |
|---|---|
| plural | -ae |
Origin of -a
Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -um (nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -α (-a, nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -ον (-on, nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).
Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative first declension neuter singular suffix)
Words formed from -a
Questions about -a
- What does -a mean?
- -a means marks singular nouns, with a foundation in Greek or Latin, often implying femininity, especially when contrasted with words terminating in -us.
- What is -a the plural of?
- -a is the plural of -um.
- What part of speech is -a?
- -a is a suffix.
- How do you pronounce -a?
- -a is pronounced /ɑ/ (UK).
Words near -a in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: -a (page history and authors); -um (page history and authors); -on (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101--a.wav.
Cite this entry: “-a.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-a. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.