源etymfun
About

Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

away

/əˈweɪ/
From a place, hence.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow
    Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
    Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    From Middle English away, awey, awei, oway, o wey, on way, from Old English āweġ, onweġ (“away”), originally on weġ (“on one's way; onward; on”), equivalent to a- (“on”) + way.

    Cognate with Scots awa, away (“away”), Old Frisian aweg, awei (“away”), Saterland Frisian wäch, wääge (“away”), Dutch weg (“away”), German weg (“away”), Danish væk (“away”), Swedish i väg (“away; off; along”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishaway
      • inheritedOld Englishāweġ
    • prefixEnglisha- “Forming verbs with the sense away, up, on, out.”
      • derivedAncient Greekἀ- “not”
        • inheritedProto-Hellenic*ə-
        • derivedAncient Greekβιωτικός “of life”
        • derivedAncient Greekκαρπός “fruit”
        • derived (ultimately)Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂- “to speak”
      • inheritedMiddle Englisha- “of”
        • inheritedOld Englishā- “on, at”
        • derivedMiddle Englishan “and, if”
        • inheritedOld Englishġe-
        • derivedMiddle Frencha-
        • inheritedOld Englishon “in”
        • derivedOld Frencha-
        • inheritedOld Englishā “ever, always”
      • derivedAnglo-Normana-
        • derivedOld Frenche-
      • derivedLatinab “of, off, from, away”
        • inheritedProto-Italic*ap
        • derivedAncient Greekσκοπός “watcher”
    • surface analysisEnglishway “A road, a direction, a (physical or conceptual) path from one place to another.”

    Related: Scots awa, Old Frisian aweg, Saterland Frisian wäch, Dutch weg, German weg, Danish væk, Swedish i väg

    Meanings

    adv
    1. From a place, hence.
    2. Aside; off; in another direction.
    3. Aside, so as to discard something.
    4. At a stated distance in time or space.
    5. In or to something's usual or proper storage place.
    6. In or to a secure or out-of-the-way place.
    intj
    1. Away with you! Go away! Begone!
    adj
    1. Not here, gone, absent, unavailable, traveling; on vacation.
    2. At a specified distance in space, time, or figuratively.
    3. Not on one's home territory.
    4. Out.
    5. Being the player whose ball lies farthest from the hole (or, in disc golf, whose disc lies farthest from the target).
    verb
    1. To depart; to go to another place.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: away