EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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.

SuffixEdit

-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

Usage notesEdit

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

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

AnagramsEdit

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ɑnt/
  • (file)

SuffixEdit

-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 termsEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French -ant, from Latin -āns, -ēns. Compare Italian -ante, -ente, Spanish -ante, -ente, -iente.

PronunciationEdit

SuffixEdit

-ant (invariable)

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

SuffixEdit

-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

SuffixEdit

-ant m (plural -ants, feminine -ante)

  1. -er; forms nouns out of verbs

Usage notesEdit

  • 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 termsEdit

GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

SuffixEdit

-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 notesEdit

DeclensionEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

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

Further readingEdit

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

HungarianEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

SuffixEdit

-ant

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

Usage notesEdit

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

Derived termsEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  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.)

LatinEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

SuffixEdit

-ant

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

DescendantsEdit

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

Middle FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

SuffixEdit

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Old FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin -āns, -ēns.

SuffixEdit

-ant

  1. used to form the present participle of verbs

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

PolishEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

SuffixEdit

-ant m pers

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

DeclensionEdit

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

  • -ant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

WelshEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Cognate with Cornish -ans.

Alternative formsEdit

SuffixEdit

-ant m (plural -annau)

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

Etymology 2Edit

SuffixEdit

-ant

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