a

1. [ Shortened form of an. AS. &amacr;n one. See One. ] An adjective, commonly called the indefinite article, and signifying one or any, but less emphatically. “At a birth”; “In a word”; “At a blow”. Shak. It is placed before nouns of the singular number denoting an individual object, or a quality individualized, before collective nouns, and also before plural nouns when the adjective few or the phrase great many or good many is interposed; <as>as, a dog, a house, a man; a color; a sweetness; a hundred, a fleet, a regiment; a few persons, a great many days.as> It is used for an, for the sake of euphony, before words beginning with a consonant sound [ for exception of certain words beginning with h, see An ]; <as>as, a table, a woman, a year, a unit, a eulogy, a ewe, a oneness, such a one, etc.as> Formally an was used both before vowels and consonants. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Originally the preposition a (an, on). ] In each; to or for each; <as>as, “twenty leagues a day”, “a hundred pounds a year”, “a dollar a yard”, etc.as> [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. [ Abbreviated form of an (AS. on). See On. ] 1. In; on; at; by. [ Obs. ] “A God's name.” “Torn a pieces.” “Stand a tiptoe.” “A Sundays” Shak. “Wit that men have now a days.” Chaucer. “Set them a work.” Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In process of; in the act of; into; to; -- used with verbal substantives in -ing which begin with a consonant. This is a shortened form of the preposition an (which was used before the vowel sound); as in a hunting, a building, a begging. “Jacob, when he was a dying” Heb. xi. 21. “We'll a birding together.” “ It was a doing.” Shak. “He burst out a laughing.” Macaulay. The hyphen may be used to connect a with the verbal substantive (as, a-hunting, a-building) or the words may be written separately. This form of expression is now for the most part obsolete, the a being omitted and the verbal substantive treated as a participle. [ 1913 Webster ]

. [ From AS. of off, from. See Of. ] Of. [ Obs. ] “The name of John a Gaunt.” “What time a day is it ?” Shak. “It's six a clock.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A barbarous corruption of have, of he, and sometimes of it and of they. “So would I a done” “A brushes his hat.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An expletive, void of sense, to fill up the meter [ 1913 Webster ]

A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on or in (from an, a forms of AS. on), denoting a state, as in afoot, on foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (AS. onweg), and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc. (2) AS. of off, from, as in adown (AS. ofd&umacr;ne off the dun or hill). (3) AS. &amacr;- (Goth. us-, ur-, Ger. er-), usually giving an intensive force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in arise, abide, ago. (4) Old English y- or i- (corrupted from the AS. inseparable particle ge-, cognate with OHG. ga-, gi-, Goth. ga-), which, as a prefix, made no essential addition to the meaning, as in aware. (5) French &agrave; (L. ad to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix &alpha; without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-. [ 1913 Webster ]

Besides these, there are other sources from which the prefix a takes its origin. [ 1913 Webster ]

A registry mark given by underwriters (as at Lloyd's) to ships in first-class condition. Inferior grades are indicated by A 2 and A 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

A 1 is also applied colloquially to other things to imply superiority; prime; first-class; first-rate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. acronym for Associate in Arts, a college degree granted for successful completion of a two-year course of study in arts or general topics.
Syn. -- Associate in Arts [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Alcoholics Anonymous. [ Acronym. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]