Word.ws English Dictionary

an'

/æn/

an' is the contraction of and.

Meaning of and

Conjunction

and

  1. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.
    • Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce...
  2. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences.
    • When she saw several boys carrying a huge wooden case full of porcelain, she mumbled to Jinming that she was going to have a look, and left the room.1991, Jung Chang, Wild Swans
  3. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first.
    • I'd been walking since sunrise, and I was hungry.
  4. (obsolete) Yet; but.
    • Hee said, I goe sir, and went not.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew XXII
  5. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (now dated); connecting shillings to pence in a monetary quantity (now historical); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often omitted in US); to connect fractions to wholes.
    • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 1
  6. (colloquial, literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements.
    • And these does she apply, for warnings and portents, / And euils imminent; and on her knee / Hath begg'd, that I will stay at home to day.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

See all 21 meanings of and

Words formed from an'

Words that rhyme with an'

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about an'

What is an' the contraction of?
An' is the contraction of and.
How do you pronounce an'?
An' is pronounced /æn/.

Words near an' in the dictionary

  1. an old dog for a hard road
  2. AN Other
  3. an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
  4. an ounce of prevention is better than an ounce of cure
  5. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
  6. an'
  7. An'gaafaru
  8. An'golhitheemu
  9. an't
  10. an-
  11. an-cap

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: an' (page history and authors); and (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: en-us-an'.ogg.

Cite this entry: “an'.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/an%27. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.