ah

mid-1400s Old Frankish (replacing English la).

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

ah

1. An expression of relief, relaxation, comfort, confusion, understanding, wonder, awe, etc. according to uttered inflection.

   Ah, I understand now.

   Ah! It's good to be back home!

   Ah, the flowers of spring.

2. A syllable used to fill space, particularly in music.
   • 2008, Britney Spears (lyrics and music), “Womanizer”:

     Boy don't try to front, uh, I
     Know just, just, what you are, ah, ah.

ah (plural ahs)

1. An instance of the interjection ah.

   the crowd's oohs and ahs at the fireworks

ah (third-person singular simple present ahs, present participle ahing, simple past and past participle ahed)

1. To give a cry of "ah".
   • 2005, T. R. Rhoads, Sinner, Sailor: A Memoir, page 221:

     Mother and dad oohed and ahed over Cindy. She was only two months old but already was developing her personality.

ah (personal pronoun, plural we, possessive adjective mah)

1. Pronunciation spelling of I, most often indicating that the speaker is using a Scottish or American (particularly Southern) accent.

From Hokkien 啊 (--a), Teochew 啊 (a⁷), Mandarin 啊 (a).

• ar, har

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 2‒5) /ɑː˨˦/, (Sense 2, non-interrogative) /ɑː/
  • IPA^(key): (Sense 1) [ä˨]

ah (Manglish, Singlish)

1. Marks a tag question prompting the listener to clarify something.

   You're dyslexic ah? ― So you're dyslexic?

   • 2020 April 12, Notdumb, “Liddat is safe distance ah?”, in SG Talk‎, archived from the original on 18 April 2020:

     Only 2 ft apart considered safe ah?

2. Used for emphasis; reinforces a short wh-question.
   • 2011 October 23, Rachel Chang, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 15:

     See how lor. Who’s going ar?

3. Emphasizes the need for absolute confirmation or acknowledgment.

   Don't drink and drive ah...

   • 2010 April 18, Colin Goh, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 24:

     Sure, ah? Thanks, man, pai seh.

4. A filler word separating the topic of a sentence and its comment.

   The drilling upstairs ah, non-stop leh.

5. A filler word used to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

• is it, izzit
• (Singlish particles): hor, know, lah, leh, liao, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

• “ah”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ah”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Lim, L. (2004) Singapore English: A grammatical description‎, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 121

• HA, Ha, ha, ha'

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/, [ˈʔʌh]

áh

1. this, these (masculine)

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “ah”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

From Proto-Albanian *aksa, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”) (compare Greek οξιά (oxiá, “beech”), Armenian հածի (haci), English ash).

ah m (plural ahe, definite ahu, definite plural ahet)

1. beech (Fagus sylvatica)

• ah i bardhë (“white hornbeam”) (Carpinus betulus)

• “ah”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎ (in Albanian), 1980
• “ah”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah

1. yes

   Synonym: hohmi

Partly borrowed from German, English, French, from Latin ah (“ah”), from Proto-Indo-European *ā. Partly also onomatopoeic.

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål ah, English ah, German ah, French ah and Latin ah.

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/, /ˈɛːɛ/, /ɑ̈ː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛː, -ɑ̈ː
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. used to express pleasure, e.g. because something tastes good or feels nice

   Coordinate terms: mm, mums, namnam

   ah, sikken en dejlig pandekage

   ah what a delicious pancake

   Synonym: uhm

   1. used to express pleasant surprise

      "ah, velkommen Albert," sagde Sickert til prinsen

      "ah, welcome Albert," said Sickert to the prince

      Synonym: minsandten

2. used to express reservations, slight disagreement, doubt etc.

   bliver man også nervøs? Ah ikke så meget

   do you get nervous too? Ah, not so much

   Synonym: arh

• “ah” in Den Danske Ordbog

• Ah, ha, HA

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah

1. ah, oh

Found in a wide variety of languages, including but not limited to Estonian ah, Ingrian ah, Karelian ah, Ludian ah, Veps ah, Votic ah, Hungarian ah, Swedish ah, German ah, English ah, Latin ah. Tracing an exact origin is effectively impossible. Probably ultimately involuntary or natural.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑ̝h]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Syllabification^(key): ah

ah

1. oh, ah

• “ah”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

• ha

Inherited from Old French a! (“oh! ah! woe!”), of expressive origin.

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio

  (file)

ah

1. ah

• ah bon

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ah”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• “ah”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [ˈaː]

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, etc.)

• “ah” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “ah” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “ah” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Rhymes: -aː

ah

1. expressing understanding
2. expressing contentment

• “ah” in Duden online
• “ah” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Involuntary expression of emotions: surprise, impatience, desire, sadness, refusal.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒx]
• Rhymes: -ɒx

ah

1. ah
   • 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 1

     Ah jó uram, mit láttam én az éjjel!

     Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

• ah in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• ah in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

Unknown

• from Arabic آهْ (ʔāh)
• from Peranakan Indonesian ach (“oh”), from Dutch ach (“oh”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/
• Rhymes: -ah

ah

1. oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay

• “ah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• ak

Ultimately a natural sound. Compare Finnish ah and Estonian ah.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. Exclamation of wonder: oh!

   Ah kui siä oot käppiä! ― Oh how beautiful you are!

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/, which may be preceded and/or followed by [h] or [ʔ]. It also may trigger syntactic gemination.[1]
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ah

ah

1. (sarcastic) ah! (usually ironic or sarcastic)

   Synonym: ha

• ha

• The murmured vowel IPA^(key): /a̤/

ah (upper case Ah)

1. A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ā or perhaps *h₂eh₂.[1]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aːh/, [äː(ɦ)]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a/, [ä]

āh

1. ah

• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

ah

1. (one's) thing

Like many terms in Mokilese, ah has no non-possessive form; the third person singular possessive form (one's/his/her/its thing) is therefore treated as the lemma.

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

ah

1. (Anglian) Alternative form of ac (“but”)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah n or f

1. (neuter) wood
2. (feminine) tree

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ɐː/
• Rhymes: -ɐː

ah

1. The name of the Latin-script letter A/a.

ah

1. shark mullet (Rhinomugil nasutus), at a growth stage of approximately twelve inches

ah

1. however, and, then

   I sukuhl, ah e doadoahk.

   I went to school, and he worked.

   Ma Soulik pahn iang, ah I sohte pahn iang.

   If Soulik goes, then I won't.

• e
• eh

ah

1. his, her, hers, its, third person singular possessive pronoun

   Liho iang ah pwoud.

   The woman joined her husband.

ah

1. Oh!; commonly used as an expression of approval.

   Ah, ke inenen mai.

   Oh, you are really good.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Homophone: há

ah!

1. ah! (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah! (expression of woe, grief)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ah.

Onomatopoeic.

ah

1. ah

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah

1. (intransitive) To be

   Bariis oo macaan ah. ― Rice that is sweet.

Imitative, similar to French ah.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/ [ˈa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Homophones: a, ha

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

• “ah”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

• ha

ah

1. Romanization of 𒄴 (aḫ)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah

1. ah; an expression of relief

• ha

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ah/

ah

1. coral lime (for chewing/eating with betelnut)

• Bohuai
• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ah

1. oh: expressing of surprise
2. oh: expressing wonder, amazement, or awe
3. oh: expressing understanding, recognition, or realization
4. oh: preceding an offhand or annoyed remark
5. oh: an invocation or address

From earlier *ak (whence the possessive forms), from Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔaar (“chicken”). Cognates include Khumi Chin ae and Mizo ár.

• IPA^(key): /àʔ/

ah

1. fowl
2. (specifically) chicken (Gallus gallus)

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 49