at
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "at"
Languages (50)
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Albanian • Azerbaijani • Bikol Central • Central Puebla Nahuatl • Chuukese • Crimean Tatar • Danish • Dutch • Eastern Durango Nahuatl • Egyptian • Faroese • Friulian • German • Gothic • Hokkien • Icelandic • Irish • Kapampangan • Ladin • Latin • Livonian • Middle English • North Frisian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Irish • Old Norse • Pipil • Pnar • Pochutec • Salar • Scots • Scottish Gaelic • Selaru • Serbo-Croatian • Simeulue • Tagalog • Tlingit • Tocharian B • Torres Strait Creole • Turkish • Turkmen • Volapük • Wakhi • Welsh • West Frisian • West Makian • Wolof • Yola
Page categories
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English at, from Old English æt (“at, near, by, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, near, to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“near, at”). Cognate with Scots at (“at”), North Frisian äät, äit, et, it (“at”), Danish at (“to”), Swedish åt (“for, toward”), Norwegian åt (“to”), Faroese at (“at, to, toward”), Icelandic að (“to, towards”), Gothic 𐌰𐍄 (at, “at”), Latin ad (“to, near”).
Preposition
at
- In, near, or in the general vicinity of a particular place.
- Caesar was at Rome.
- at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine
- at Jim’s house
- 1919, Plutarch, “The Life of Cicero” in Parallel Lives, 43 (Bernadotte Perrin, trans.):
- Hirtius and Pansa, who were good men and admirers of Cicero, begged him not to desert them, and undertook to put down Antony if Cicero would remain at Rome.
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4:
- (b) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain):
- (indicating time) Indicating occurrence in an instant of time or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.
- at six o’clock
- at closing time
- at night
- 1838, The Family Magazine:
- Lafayette was major-general in the American army at the age of 18 […]
- 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
- Other global taboos, such as sex and suicide, manifest themselves widely online, with websites offering suicide guides and Hot XXX Action seconds away at the click of a button. The UK government will come under pressure to block access to pornographic websites this year when a committee of MPs publishes its report on protecting children online.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- In the direction of (often implied to be in a hostile or careless manner).
- Don’t just talk at someone; really listen to what they have to say.
- He threw the ball at me.
- He shouted at her.
- 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly.
Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan.
“Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
- 2023 July 9, Barbie, spoken by Ken (Ryan Gosling):
- Come on in. I’ll play the guitar at you.
- Denotes a price.
- 3 apples at 2¢ (each)
- The offer was at $30,000 before negotiations.
- Occupied in (activity).
- men at work
- In a state of.
- She is at sixes and sevens with him.
- They are at loggerheads over how best to tackle the fiscal cliff.
- The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces.
- Indicates a position on a scale or in a series.
- Sell at 90.
- Tiger finished the round at tenth, seven strokes behind the leaders.
- I’m offering it—just to select customers—at cost.
- Because of.
- to laugh at a joke
- mad at their comments
- Indicates a means, method, or manner.
- 1995, Richard Klein, Cigarettes are Sublime, →ISBN, page 41:
- […] to be sold at auction for sixty gold francs.
- 2012, Sami Moubayed, Syria and the USA: Washington's Relations with Damascus, →ISBN:
- A few days later, on 1 October, King Hussein opened the Jordanian Parliament by speaking at length about the crisis in Syria,
- Holding a given speed or rate.
- It is growing at the rate of 3% a year.
- Cruising along at fifty miles per hour.
- (used for skills (including in activities) or areas of knowledge) On the subject of; regarding.
- The twins were both bad at chemistry.
- He slipped at marksmanship over his extended vacation.
- 2015, Sanyan Stories: Favorites from a Ming Dynasty Collection, →ISBN, page 157:
- She’s good at playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
- (Ireland, stressed pronunciation) Bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to
- 1995 Keith Wood, quoted in David Hughes, "Wood odds-on to take one against the head", in The Independent (London) 18 January:
- I think ‘Jesus, my back is at me’. Then I get the ball. Off you go for 10 yards and you don’t feel a thing. Then you stop and think: ‘Jesus, it’s at me again’[.]
- 2014 Marian Keyes "Antarctic Diary - Part 2" personal website (January 2014):
- He seems to be saying. “Ah, go on, you’re making the other lads feel bad.” But the 4th fella says, “No. Don’t be ‘at’ me. I’m just not in the form right now, I’ll stay where I am, thanks.”
- 1995 Keith Wood, quoted in David Hughes, "Wood odds-on to take one against the head", in The Independent (London) 18 January:
- (UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, especially finance) (also as at; before dates) On a particular date.
- n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary:
- balance as at 20th March 1999
- n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary:
Usage notes
- He threw the ball to me — (so I could catch it).
- He threw the ball at me — (trying to hit me with it).
- He talked to her — (conversationally).
- He shouted at her — (aggressively).
Derived terms
Translations
in or very near a particular place
|
indicating time
|
in the direction of
|
denoting a price
|
occupied in (activity)
|
Noun
at (plural ats)
Translations
at sign — see at sign
Verb
at (third-person singular simple present ats, present participle atting, simple past and past participle atted)
- (informal, neologism) Rare form of @; to reply to or talk to someone, either online or face-to-face. (from the practice of targeting a message or reply to someone online by writing @name)
- 2022, William Morris, Motley Vision:
- If you have questions or observations on my discussion questions, feel free to reply to this email, at me on Twitter, or comment on the companion post on AMV.
Usage notes
Chiefly used in the phrase "don't @ me"/"don't at me". It can be used humorously when stated after an unpopular or ironic opinion, to forestall dissent.
Etymology 2
Pronoun
at
- (Northern England, rare, possibly obsolete) Alternative form of 'at (relative pronoun; reduced form of “that” and/or “what”)
- 1860, Robert Gordon Latham, Song of Solomon, as spoken in Durham [by Thomas Moore], in A hand-book of the English language:
- Tak us t’ foxes, t’ little foxes at spoils t’ veynes: fer our veynes hev tender grapes.
- 1860, Robert Gordon Latham, Song of Solomon, as spoken in Durham [by Thomas Moore], in A hand-book of the English language:
Etymology 3
Noun
- Alternative form of att (Laos currency unit)
References
- “at”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
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