or A n., pl. a's or A's also as, or As.

1. The first letter of the modern English alphabet.
2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter a.
3. The first in a series.
4. Something shaped like the letter A.
5. A The best or highest in quality or rank: grade A milk.
6. Music.
   1. The sixth tone in the scale of C major or the first tone in the relative minor scale.
   2. A key or scale in which A is the tonic.
   3. A written or printed note representing this tone.
   4. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this tone.
7. A One of the four major blood groups in the ABO system. Individuals with this blood group have the A antigen on the surface of their red blood cells, and the anti-B antibody in their blood serum.

idiom:

from A to Z

1. Completely; thoroughly.

a² (ə; ā when stressed)
indef.art.

1. Used before nouns and noun phrases that denote a single but unspecified person or thing: a region; a person.
2. Used before terms, such as few or many, that denote number, amount, quantity, or degree: only a few of the voters; a bit more rest; a little excited.
3. 1. Used before a proper name to denote a type or a member of a class: the wisdom of a Socrates.
   2. Used before a mass noun to indicate a single type or example: a dry wine.
4. The same: birds of a feather.
5. Any: not a drop to drink.

[Middle English, variant of an, an. See an¹.]

USAGE NOTE   In writing, the form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound, regardless of its spelling (a frog, a university). The form an is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound (an orange, an hour). • An was once a common variant before words beginning with h in which the first syllable was unstressed; thus 18th-century authors wrote either a historical or an historical but a history, not an history. This usage made sense in that people often did not pronounce the initial h in words such as historical and heroic, but by the late 19th century educated speakers usually pronounced initial h, and the practice of writing an before such words began to die out. Nowadays it survives primarily before the word historical. One may also come across it in the phrases an hysterectomy or an hereditary trait. These usages are acceptable in formal writing.

a³ (ə)
prep.

In every; to each; per: once a month; one dollar a pound.

[Middle English, from Old English an, in. See on.]

a⁴ (ə)
aux.v. Informal.

Have: He'd a come if he could.

[Middle English, alteration of haven, to have. See have.]

abbr.

angstrom

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - a

idioms:

• from A to Z    fra a til å, hele alfabetet

2.
det. - en, et

3.
prep. - til, på, hen imod

4.
aux. v. - ha-

5.
abbr. - atto-
symb. - A

idioms:

• A level    A-level, studentereksamen

6.

idioms:

• a priori    studentereksamen, a priori, på forhånd givet, logisk begrundet

Nederlands (Dutch)
een, volgens

Français (French)
1.
n. - a (première lettre de l'alphabet), bis (un numéro de maison), (Mus) la, (École) excellent (une note), (Élec) A ampère

idioms:

• from A to Z    (connaître qch) de A à Z

2.
det. - un/une, le/la/les, un(e) certain(e), le/la même, un(e) seul(e), du/de la/des, quelques, beaucoup, par (par personne, par mois), à (l'heure)

3.
prep. - la (livre, le kilo), une fois (par mois), par

4.
aux. v. - avoir (fam)

5.
abbr. - (abrév = ampere) (Élec) ampère, (Mes) acre(s), superficie (en mesures agraires), (Mus) alto, amateur, réponse
symb. - accélération, (Mes) are, atto- (préfixe), notation algébrique (aux échecs)

idioms:

• A level    (GB, École) classe de terminale, (GB, École) équivalent du baccalauréat

6.

idioms:

• a priori    à priori

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - a, Tonbezeichnung, beste Note (Eins in Deutschland)

idioms:

• from A to Z    von A bis Z

2.
det. - ein, eine, ein gewisser, eine gewisse, ein gewisses

3.
prep. - jeder, jede, jedes

4.
aux. v. - (informell) haben

5.
abbr. - Ankunft, vor (beim Datum)
symb. - (Phys) Beschleunigung

idioms:

• A level    Hochschulreife, Gymnasialabschluß, Abitur

6.

idioms:

• a priori    a priori, von vorneherein

Ελληνική (Greek)
art. - ένας, (ένας) κάποιος, ανά, (για) κάθε
prep. - σε κατάσταση

idioms:

• Ζ la    α λα
• Ζ la mode    της μόδας
• A level    (Βρετ.) εξετάσεις ανωτέρου επιπέδου για την απόκτηση του Γενικού Τίτλου Σπουδών
• a priori    εκ των προτέρων
• Ρ la carte    α λα καρτ
• from A to Z    από το άλφα ώς το ωμέγα, από την αρχή ώς το τέλος

Italiano (Italian)
sesta nota della scala diatonica di do, il voto piú alto, la categoria piú alta, uno, una, un, un', un certo (con nomi propri)

idioms:

• à la carte    al menù
• à la mode    alla moda
• A level    massimo livello
• a priori    a priori
• from A to Z    dall'a alla zeta

Português (Portuguese)
art. - um, uma, um certo
prep. - a

idioms:

• à la    à la
• à la carte    a la carte
• à la mode    à moda, servido com sorvete
• A level    nível A
• a posteriori    a posteriori
• a priori    a priori
• from A to Z    de A à Z

Русский (Russian)
первая буква алфавита, неопределенный артикль, муз. ля, отлично, магистральная дорога, некий, какой-то

idioms:

• Е la    в стиле, подражая
• Е la carte    порционно, на заказ
• Е la mode    по моде
• A level    Англия: экзамен при окончании школы
• a posteriori    апостериори, из опыта, по опыту
• a priori    априори, заранее
• from A to Z    от альфы до омеги, от а до я, с начала до конца

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - primera letra del alfabeto

idioms:

• from A to Z    de cabo a rabo, del principio al fin

2.
det. - un, una, el, la

3.
prep. - a, por, cada, todos, del, por cada

4.
aux. v. - a (como sustituto del verbo auxiliar tener)

5.
abbr. - amperio
symb. - sexta nota musical (la)

idioms:

• A level    crédito de enseñanza secundaria en Gran Bretaña

6.

idioms:

• a priori    de la causa al efecto

Svenska (Swedish)
art. - en, ett
prep. - per

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
1. 字母A

idioms:

• a priori    推理的, 演绎的
• from A to Z    彻底地, 从头到尾

2. 一

3. 一, 某一, 任一

4. 每一

5. 安培埃

idioms:

• A level    高级程度, 高级考试

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
1.
abbr. - 安培埃

idioms:

• A level    高級程度, 高級考試

2.
prep. - 一, 某一, 任一

3.
aux. v. - 每一

4.
n. - 字母A

idioms:

• a priori    推理的, 演繹的
• from A to Z    徹底地, 從頭到尾

5.
det. - 一

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 영어 자모의 첫째자, A자형의 것, 제1의 가정

2.
det. - 단수, 첫 번째

3.
prep. - ~으로부터, ~을 하고 있는

4.
aux. v. - 조동사 `have' 와 같은 뜻

5.
abbr. - about(약), answer(답)
symb. - argon(아르곤)

idioms:

• A level    A급, 제 1급

6. 나라면 그렇게 했을 것이다

idioms:

• a priori    연역적으로, 선험적으로
• a priori    연역적으로, 선험적으로

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 一つの
n. - エー, A字形のもの, 優, 一級のもの, イ音, イ調
art. - 一つの, ある, …につき, どの…も, 同一の, 同じ, …のような人

idioms:

• A level    上級課程
• a priori    演繹的に, 先験的に
• from A to Z    初めから終わりまで, 一から十まで

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(أداة) أداة تنكير تعني واحدا أو ما (حرف جر) نحو, في, في أثناءي أثناء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮האות הראשונה באלפבית, סוג דם אנושי במערכת OBA‬
det. - ‮כל אחד, לכל אחד, בכל אחד, אחד, אחד כמו, כמה, תווית אי-יידוע לשם-עצם‬
prep. - ‮מן, על, ע"י, של, ל- ב-, לקראת, במהלך, במצב מסוים‬
aux. v. - ‮במהלך, במצב של‬
abbr. - ‮אטומי, אנגסטרום (יחידה למדידת קרני-אור), לפני‬
symb. - ‮אמפר, לה (הצליל הששי בסולם C מז'ור), אר (מידת-שטח)‬
a priori - ‮אפריורי, מלכתחילה, מראש‬

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