-ant
English
Etymology
From Middle English -ant, -aunt, partly from Old French -ant, from Latin -āns; and partly (in adjectival derivations) continuing Middle English -ant, a variant of -and, -end, from Old English -ende (present participle ending), see -and.
Suffix
-ant
- (now sciences, chiefly medicine) The agent noun derived from verb.
- An adjective corresponding to a noun in -ance, having the sense of "exhibiting (the condition or process described by the noun)".
- An adjective derived from a verb, having the senses of: (a) "doing (the verbal action)", and/or (b) "prone/tending to do (the verbal action)".
- Alternative form of -and
- blatant, blicant; flippant, old-farrant
Usage notes
- Many words in -ant were not actually coined in English but rather borrowed directly from Old French, Middle French or Modern French.
Derived terms
Related terms
Dutch
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑnt/
Audio (file)
Suffix
-ant m (plural -anten, feminine -ante)
- appended to the stem of a verb, it yields a noun which signifies the subject who performs the action of that verb (see agent noun)
Derived terms
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French -ant, from Latin -antem, -entem. Compare Italian -ante, -ente, Spanish -ante, -ente, -iente.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑ̃/
Audio (file)
Suffix
-ant (feminine -ante, masculine plural -ants, feminine plural -antes)
- -ant, -ing; forms adjectives out of verbs
- (rare) forms adjectives from words other than verbs
- abracadabra + -ant → abracadabrant
Usage notes
- French present participles are used, chiefly in literary style, to replace relative clauses. In this case they are not inflected for number and gender: une femme aimant ses enfants (“a woman loving her children”), equivalent to une femme qui aime ses enfants (“a woman who loves her children”).
- Some present participles can also be used as actual adjectives. In this case they are inflected: une femme aimante (“a loving/caring woman”). This adjectival use is lexicalised, however, which means that it is common only for certain participles, not all (unlike English).
German
Etymology
From Middle High German -ant, from Old French -ant; and also directly from Latin -antis, -ans.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/
Suffix
-ant m (weak, genitive -anten, plural -anten, feminine -antin)
Usage notes
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
- -ans (rare, unproductive synonym from the same source)
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɒnt]
- Rhymes: -ɒnt
Suffix
-ant
- (instantaneous suffix) Added to a stem - often an onomatopoeia - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.
- pillant (“to glance”)
Usage notes
Derived terms
See also
- -int
- Appendix:Hungarian suffixes
References
- -ant in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *-ānt, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yónti.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ant/, [än̪t̪]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ant/, [än̪t̪]
Middle French
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Suffix
-ant
- used to form the present participle of verbs
Old French
Suffix
-ant
- used to form the present participle of verbs
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ant
- Syllabification: ant
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/
Alternative forms
Suffix
-ant m (plural -annau)