Ab- | Meaning Of Prefix Ab- By Etymonline

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Origin and history of ab-

ab-

word-forming element meaning "away, from, from off, down," denoting disjunction, separation, departure; from Latin ab (prep.) "off, away from" in reference to space or distance, also of time, from PIE root *apo- "off, away" (also the source of Greek apo "off, away from, from," Sanskrit apa "away from," Gothic af, English of, off; see apo-).

The Latin word also denoted "agency by; source, origin; relation to, in consequence of." Since classical times usually reduced to a- before -m-, -p-, or -v-; typically abs- before -c-, -q-, or -t-.

Entries linking to ab-

of(prep.)

Old English of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) "away, away from," from Proto-Germanic *af (source also of Old Norse af, Old Frisian af, of "of," Dutch af "off, down," German ab "off, from, down"), from PIE root *apo- "off, away." Compare off (prep.).

The primary sense in Old English still was "away," but it shifted in Middle English with use of the word to translate Latin de, ex, and especially Old French de, which had come to be the substitute for the genitive case. "Of shares with another word of the same length, as, the evil glory of being accessory to more crimes against grammar than any other." [Fowler]

Also by 1837 of in print could be a non-standard or dialectal representation of have as pronounced in unstressed positions (could of, must of, etc.)

off(prep., adv.)

by c. 1200 as an emphatic form of Old English of (see of), employed in the adverbial use of that word. The prepositional meaning "away from" and the adjectival sense of "farther" were not firmly fixed in this variant until 17c., but once they were they left the original of with the transferred and weakened senses of the word. Meaning "not working" is from 1861.

Off the cuff "extemporaneously, without preparation" (1938) is from the notion of speaking from notes written in haste on one's shirt cuffs. In reference to clothing, off the rack (adj.) "not tailored, not made to individual requirements, ready-made" is by 1963, on the notion of buying it from the rack of a clothing store; off the record "not to be publicly disclosed" is from 1933; off the wall "crazy" is 1968, probably from the notion of a lunatic "bouncing off the walls" or else in reference to carom shots in squash, handball, etc.

• a posteriori
• a priori
• ab initio
• ab ovo
• ab urbe condita
• abalienate
• abalienation
• abaxile
• abdicate
• abdication
• abduce
• abducent
• abduction
• abductor
• aberrant
• aberration
• abhor
• Abitur
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abalienatein civil law, "transfer title of ownership to another," 1550s, from Latin abalienatus, past participle of abalienare "to remove, separate, alienate, make formal transfer of," literally "to convey away," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + alienare "to separate" (from alius "anotabalienation"act of transferring title of ownership," 1650s, from Latin abalienationem (nominative abalienatio), in law, "transfer of property, sale," noun of action from past-participle stem of abalienare "to separate, transfer the ownership of," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + alienarabdicate1540s, "to disown, disinherit (children)," from Latin abdicatus, past participle of abdicare "to disown, disavow, reject" (specifically abdicare magistratu "renounce office"), literally "proclaim as not belonging to one," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + dicare "proclaim" (frSpenserianwhich he employed in the "Faerie Queen," consists of eight decasyllabic lines and a final Alexandrine, with rhyme scheme ab...ab bc bcc....julepPersian gulab "a sweet drink," also "rose water," from gul "rose" (related to Greek rhodon, Latin rosa; see rose (n.1)) + ab...abdomenobsolete), from Latin abdomen "the belly," a word of unknown origin, Perhaps [OED, Watkins] from abdere "conceal" (from ab...catharsisIt will therefore be rendered throughout the text by "ab-react," the literal meaning is to react away from or to react off...blacklistalso black-list, "list of persons who have incurred suspicion, earned punishment, or are for any reason deemed objectionable by the makers and users of the list," 1610s, from black (adj.), here indicative of disgrace, censure, punishment (a sense attested from 1590s, in black booservelate 12c., serven, "to render habitual obedience to, owe allegiance to," also "minister, give aid, give help," from Old French servir "to do duty toward, show devotion to; set table, serve at table; offer, provide with," from Latin servire "be a servant, be in service, be enslaverigmarole"a long, rambling discourse; incoherent harangue," 1736, apparently from an altered, Kentish colloquial survival of ragman roll "long list, roster, or catalogue" (c. 1500). The origins of this are in Middle English rageman "document recording accusations or offenses," also "an ac

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab-CopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab-">Etymology of ab- by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of ab-. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab-CopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of ab-," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed December 28, 2025, https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab-.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of ab-." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab-. Accessed 28 December, 2025.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of ab-." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/ab- (accessed December 28, 2025).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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