eldertongue

Old English · prefix

on-

Part of speech
prefix
IPA
/on/
Syllables
on (1 syllable)
Modern English
initiationintensifydenotingreversethitherparticiplesupon

on-1 · prefix

Senses

  1. forming verbs and adjectives from participles and nouns, with various senses of on, upon, to, there, thither

    onhlinian

    to lean on

  2. in, into; prefix used to intensify an action or to denote origin or initiation

    onlīehtan

    to enlighten

on-2 · prefix

Senses

  1. denoting reverse action

    onbindan

    to untie, unbind

  2. off, away

    onberan

    to carry off

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *an-, *ana-, from Proto-Germanic *an, *ana (“on”).

From the unstressed form of ond-, and- (“against, back, in return”).

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on- · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution · Report a problem with this entry