English edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

-ant

  1. (now sciences, chiefly medicine) The agent noun derived from verb.
    serveservant
  2. An adjective corresponding to a noun in -ance, having the sense of "exhibiting (the condition or process described by the noun)".
  3. 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)".
    ascendascendant
    errerrant.
  4. Alternative form of -and
    blatant, blicant; flippant, old-farrant

Usage notes edit

  • Many words in -ant were not actually coined in English but rather borrowed directly from Old French, Middle French or Modern French.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Anagrams edit

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

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

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ɑnt/
  • (file)

Suffix edit

-ant m (plural -anten, feminine -ante)

  1. 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 edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old French -ant, from Latin -antem, -entem. Compare Italian -ante, -ente, Spanish -ante, -ente, -iente.

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

-ant (invariable)

  1. -ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb
    jouer (to play) + ‎-ant → ‎jouant (playing)

Suffix edit

-ant (feminine -ante, masculine plural -ants, feminine plural -antes)

  1. -ant, -ing; forms adjectives out of verbs
  2. (rare) forms adjectives from words other than verbs
    abracadabra + ‎-ant → ‎abracadabrant

Suffix edit

-ant m (plural -ants, feminine -ante)

  1. -er; forms nouns out of verbs

Usage notes edit

  • 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).

Related terms edit

German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German -ant, from Old French -ant; and also directly from Latin -antis, -ans.

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

-ant m (weak, genitive -anten, plural -anten, feminine -antin)

  1. Forms agent nouns, mostly from verbs of Romance or Latin origin.
    liefern (to supply) + ‎-ant → ‎Lieferant (supplier)

Usage notes edit

Declension edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

  • -ans (rare, unproductive synonym from the same source)

Further reading edit

  • -ant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • -ant” in Duden online

Hungarian edit

Etymology edit

From -a- (linking vowel) +‎ -n (instantaneous suffix) +‎ -t (causative suffix).[1]

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

-ant

  1. (instantaneous suffix) Added to a stem - often an onomatopoeia - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.
    pillant (to glance)

Usage notes edit

  • (instantaneous suffix) Variants:
    -ant is added to back-vowel words
    -ent is added to front-vowel words

Derived terms edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ -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 edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Italic *-ānt, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yónti.

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

-ant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of (first conjugation)

Descendants edit

  • Old Galician-Portuguese: -an
    • Galician: -an
    • Portuguese: -am
  • Spanish: -an

Middle French edit

Etymology edit

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

Suffix edit

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Old French edit

Etymology edit

From Latin -āns, -ēns.

Suffix edit

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

Polish edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French -ant, from Old French -ant, from Latin -āns, -ēns.

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

-ant m pers

  1. -ant (agent noun derived from verb)
    kurs + ‎-ant → ‎kursant

Declension edit

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Welsh edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Cognate with Cornish -ans.

Alternative forms edit

Suffix edit

-ant m (plural -annau)

  1. show the action of a verb or its result, -tion, -ment
    maddau (to forgive) + ‎-ant → ‎maddeuant (forgiveness)

Etymology 2 edit

Suffix edit

-ant

  1. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural present indicative/future
Derived terms edit
Category Welsh terms suffixed with -ant not found