-ant
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
- (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 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
Suffix edit
-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 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)
- -ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb
Suffix edit
-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
Suffix edit
-ant m (plural -ants, feminine -ante)
- -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)
- Forms agent nouns, mostly from verbs of Romance or Latin origin.
Usage notes edit
- This ending is semi-productive, see e.g. Asylant, Antifant.
- This ending rarely also occurs in the neuter gender, see e.g. Antiozonant.
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
- -ans (rare, unproductive synonym from the same source)
Further reading edit
Hungarian edit
Etymology edit
From -a- (linking vowel) + -n (instantaneous suffix) + -t (causative suffix).[1]
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ant
- (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
- ^ -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
- third-person plural present active indicative of -ō (first conjugation)
Descendants edit
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
- used to form the present participle of verbs
Old French edit
Etymology edit
Suffix edit
-ant
- 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
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Welsh edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Alternative forms edit
Suffix edit
-ant m (plural -annau)
Etymology 2 edit
Suffix edit
-ant
- (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural present indicative/future