ah

adj

1. Initialism of all human: applied to fan fiction stories in which supernatural characters are reimagined as normal human beings.

adv

1. Abbreviation of Anno Hegirae: in the year of the Hegira, used for dates using the Islamic calendar.

intj

Etymology: Imitative of a person gagging.

1. Yuck.

noun

1. Initialism of ampere-hour (unit of charge).

particle

Etymology: From Hokkien 啊 (--a, a) and Teochew 啊 (a⁷), reinforced by Tamil -ஆ (-ā, etymology 3, particle sense 1) among Tamil speakers (Baskaran, 1988).

1. Marks a yes–no tag question prompting the listener to clarify or confirm something.

   “Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/, [ä˨]”

   “You’re dyslexic ah?”

2. Reinforces a short, non-rhetorical wh-question.

   “Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/”

   “How do you delete this row ah?”

3. Emphasizes the need for absolute confirmation, permission or acknowledgment.

   “Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/”

   “Don’t drink and drive ah...”

4. A particle indicating the topic of a sentence from its comment.

   “Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/”

   “The drilling upstairs ah, non-stop leh.”

5. A confirmative final particle used in the middle of a sentence to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

   “Pitch contour: rising /ɑ(ː)˨˦/”

   “Near-synonym: right”

6. Tagged at the end of non-interrogative sentence to convey a sense of informality or resignation.

   “Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/”

   “I got tell them ah, guys.”

7. A vocative particle, now mostly used by Chinese elders for direct address (over telephone calls, or if the addressee is far away).

   “Pitch contour: low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/”

   “Hello? Joey ah?”

8. Used as an intensifier in fixed expressions, sometimes exhortative in meaning.

   “Pitch contour: mid-falling /ɑ(ː)˧˨/, low-mid /ɑ(ː)˨/”

   “Heng ah...”

prefix

1. prefix for attack helicopter, helicopter gunship designations

pron

1. Alternative letter-case form of ah (“I”).

verb

Etymology: From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah). Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

1. To give a cry of "ah".

   “Mother and dad oohed and ahed over Cindy. She was only two months old but already was developing her personality.”