A-
From open-dictionary.com - the free dictionary.
This is a prefix based on various etymologies
Germanic Etymologies
Anglo Saxon an or a meaning "on" or "in"
- denoting a state, as in afoot, on foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (Anglo Saxon onweg), and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc.
Anglo Saxon meaning of, off or from
- as in adown (Anglo Saxon ofdūne off the dun or hill).
Anglo Saxon ā- and Gothic us-, ur-, German er-
- usually giving an intensive force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in arise, abide, ago.
Old English y- or i- (corrupted from the Anglo Saxon inseparable particle ge- , cognate with Old High German ga-, gi-, Gothic ga-)
- makes no essential addition to the meaning, as in aware.
Romance Etymologies
French à from Latin ad
Latin a, ab, abs,
- from, as in avert.
Greek Etymology
Inseparable prefix α without, or privative,
