English

-a

/ə/
Marks singular nouns, with a foundation in Greek or Latin, often implying femininity, especially when contrasted with words terminating in -us.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 3

    Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative first declension neuter singular suffix)

    Etymology 4

    Borrowed from Italian -a, Spanish -a and Portuguese -a, all feminine noun suffixes from Latin -a.

    Etymology 5

    Added especially for metrical reasons, or as an empty filler syllable.

    Etymology 8

    Contraction of to.

    Etymology 9

    Contraction of do.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • learned borrowingLatin-ā
      • derivedOld Latin-ād
      • inheritedProto-Italic*-ā
        • inheritedProto-Indo-European*-eh₂
    • derivedEnglishhave “To possess, own.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishhaven
        • inheritedOld Englishhabban “to have, possess”
    • borrowedItalian-a
      • borrowedSpanish-a
        • borrowedPortuguese-a

    Sources