Word.ws English Dictionary

an-

an- is the alternative form of on-.

an- is the alternative form of ana-.

an- is the alternative form of ad-.

Prefix

an-

  1. not; used to make words that have a sense opposite to the word (or stem) to which the prefix is attached. Used with stems that begin with vowels and "h".
    Synonyms:
    a-, dys-, i-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, mal-, non-, un-
  2. Without, lacking.
    • anoxia (without oxygen), anandrous (without male parts)
    Synonyms:
    ex-, -less, -free

Meaning of on-

Prefix

on-

  1. on, at, toward, upon.
    • oncome, onset, onfall, onlay
    Synonyms:
    en-, epi-, super-, supra-, sur-, hyper-

Meaning of ana-

Prefix

ana-

  1. up, above, upward
    • e.g. anafront, anagogy, anaglyph
    Synonyms:
    supra-
  2. again
    • e.g. anabaptist, anataxis, anastatic
    Synonyms:
    re-
  3. backward in direction, reversed
    • e.g. anagram, anaplasia, anaphase
    Synonyms:
    un-
  4. thoroughly
    • e.g. analysis, analyte, anatomy
    Synonyms:
    per-, pur-, disto-, extra-
  5. against
    • e.g. anachronism, anamodernism, anatoxin
    Synonyms:
    contra-, counter-
  6. distal, away from
    • e.g. anacolpate, anaporate, anaseismic

See all 7 meanings of ana-

Synonyms of an-

3 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of an-

alternative formon-
alternative forma-

Origin of an-

From Middle English an-, from Old English an-, on- (“on-”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana-, from Proto-Germanic *ana- (“on”). More at on.

From Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-). Doublet of un- and in-.

From Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-), from ἀνά (aná, “on, up, above, throughout”). Doublet of on-.

Words formed from an-

Questions about an-

What does an- mean?
An- means not; used to make words that have a sense opposite to the word (or stem) to which the prefix is attached. Used with stems that begin with vowels and "h".
What is an- the alternative form of?
An- is the alternative form of on-.
What part of speech is an-?
An- is a prefix.

Words near an- in the dictionary

  1. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
  2. an'
  3. An'gaafaru
  4. An'golhitheemu
  5. an't
  6. an-
  7. an-cap
  8. an-caps
  9. An-ch'ing
  10. An-chʻing
  11. An-hui

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: an- (page history and authors); on- (page history and authors); ana- (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:

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