-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
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Old Catalan -ant, from Latin -antem, -entem. Compare French -ant, Italian -ent, Spanish -ante, Portuguese -ante.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ant (invariable)
- -ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb
Suffix
-ant (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -anta, masculine plural -ants, feminine plural -antes)
Suffix
-ant m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ants, feminine -anta, feminine plural -antes)
- -er; forms nouns out of verbs
See also
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈanˀd]
Suffix
-ant c
- Forms agent nouns, mostly from verbs of Romance or Latin origin
- something that is or happens in a certain way (adjectives. E.g. arrogant)
Declension
| common gender |
singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | -ant | -anten | -anter | -anterne |
| genitive | -ants | -antens | -anters | -anternes |
Derived 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 (invariable)
- -ing; suffix denoting the gerund and present participle of a verb
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
Suffix
-ant m (plural -ants, feminine -ante)
- -er; forms nouns out of verbs
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”). Such adjectival uses are lexicalised, however, and (unlike in English) not all participles allow it.
Related terms
German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle High German -ant, from Latin -ans, -antis, in part through Old French -ant.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/, /ɑnt/
Suffix
-ant m (weak, genitive -anten, plural -anten, feminine -antin)
- Forms agent nouns, mostly from verbs of Romance or Latin origin.
Usage notes
- This ending is semi-productive, see e.g. Asylant, Antifant.
- This ending rarely also occurs in the neuter gender, see e.g. Antiozonant.
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
Hungarian
Etymology
From -a- (linking vowel) + -n (instantaneous suffix) + -t (causative suffix).[1]
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
- (instantaneous suffix) Variants:
- -ant is added to back-vowel words
- -ent is added to front-vowel words
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 Latin) IPA(key): [ˈant]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈan̪t̪]
Suffix
-ant
- third-person plural present active indicative of -ō (first conjugation)
Descendants
Middle French
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) From Latin -āns, -ēns.
Suffix
-ant
- used to form the present participle of verbs
Old French
Etymology
Suffix
-ant
- used to form the present participle of verbs
Related terms
Descendants
Polish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ant
- Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
Suffix
-ant m pers
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- -ant in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ant/
Etymology 1
Alternative forms
Suffix
-ant m (plural -annau)
- show the action of a verb or its result, -tion, -ment
- maddau (“to forgive”) + -ant → maddeuant (“forgiveness”)
Etymology 2
Suffix
-ant
- (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural present indicative/future