on — meaning, definition (preposition, adverb, adjective)

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Middle English on English on From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola a, an, ana, on (“on”), Saterland Frisian an (“on; at”), West Frisian oan (“on; to, towards”), Cimbrian aan, å (“on, onto”), Dutch aan (“on; at”), Low German an (“on; at, to”), German an (“at, in; on”), Luxembourgish un (“on; at, to”), Yiddish אָן (on, “on, onward”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish å (“on”), Elfdalian ą̊ (“on”), Faroese and Icelandic á (“in; on”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana, “at, on”); also Umbrian 𐌀𐌌- (am-), 𐌀𐌍- (an-, “up, upon”), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, upon”) (whence Greek ανά (aná, “by, through, per”)), Albanian në (“in; on”), Latvian no (“from; out of; for; of; with”), Lithuanian nuo (“from, off; for, of”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian на (na, “on”), Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene na (“on”), Serbo-Croatian на, na (“on”), Old Armenian ան- (an-, “at, on, unto”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish på (“on”), Norwegian Nynorsk paa, på (“on”), see upon.

In the state of being active, functioning or operating.
“All the lights are on, so they must be home.”
Happening; taking place; being or due to be put into action.
“We had to ration our food because there was a war on.”
“Some of the cast went down with flu, but the show's still on.”
Happening; taking place; being or due to be put into action.
“"Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!"”
“If he wants a fight, he's on!”
Fitted; covering or being worn.
“Your feet will soon warm up once your socks are on.”
“I was trying to drink out of the bottle while the top was still on!”
Of a stated part of something, oriented towards the viewer or other specified direction.
“The photograph shows the UFO side on.”
“edge on, side on, end on, face on”
Acceptable, appropriate.
“It's not fair to do that – it's just not on.”
“This kind of over-packaging of goods is completely not on.”
Possible; capable of being successfully carried out.
“Climbing up that steep ridge isn't on. We'll have to find another route.”
“He'd like to play the red next to the black spot, but that shot isn't on.”
Available; remaining.
“Smith is 25 points ahead with only 23 on.”
Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter.
“With one out and no men on, Tristen Carranza belted a ball to the opposite field for a solo home run to put the NM State deficit at just 2-1.”
“Although Stanford was outhit 15-6, the Cardinal stranded eight runners to UCLA's three, hitting just 3-15 with runners on compared to the Bruin's 9-22.”
Within the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman.
“The captain moved two fielders to the on side.”
“Ponsonby-Smythe hit a thumping on drive.”
Of a ball, being the next in sequence to be potted, according to the rules of the game.
“If the player fails to hit the ball on, it's a foul.”
Acting in character.
Performative or funny in a wearying manner.
“He always has to be on, it's so exhausting.”
Menstruating.
“It still gets in the way of her doing things like swimming, and she avoids sleepovers when she's "on".”

adv

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Middle English on English on From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola a, an, ana, on (“on”), Saterland Frisian an (“on; at”), West Frisian oan (“on; to, towards”), Cimbrian aan, å (“on, onto”), Dutch aan (“on; at”), Low German an (“on; at, to”), German an (“at, in; on”), Luxembourgish un (“on; at, to”), Yiddish אָן (on, “on, onward”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish å (“on”), Elfdalian ą̊ (“on”), Faroese and Icelandic á (“in; on”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana, “at, on”); also Umbrian 𐌀𐌌- (am-), 𐌀𐌍- (an-, “up, upon”), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, upon”) (whence Greek ανά (aná, “by, through, per”)), Albanian në (“in; on”), Latvian no (“from; out of; for; of; with”), Lithuanian nuo (“from, off; for, of”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian на (na, “on”), Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene na (“on”), Serbo-Croatian на, na (“on”), Old Armenian ան- (an-, “at, on, unto”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish på (“on”), Norwegian Nynorsk paa, på (“on”), see upon.

To an operating state.
“turn the television on”
So as to cover or be fitted.
“The lid wasn't screwed on properly.”
“Put on your hat and gloves.”
Along, forwards (continuing an action), onwards.
“The policeman moved the tramp on.”
“Drive on past the railway station.”
In continuation, at length.
“and so on”
“He rambled on and on.”
Later.
“Ten years on, nothing had changed in the village.”
Of betting odds, denoting a better-than-even chance. See also odds-on.
“That horse is twenty-to-one on, so you need to stake twenty pounds just to win one pound.”
Of a ball, into a pottable position.
“The black was previously unavailable, but in potting that red, he's now pushed the black on.”

name

Initialism of Old Norse.
Abbreviation of Ontario: a province of Canada.

noun

Etymology: From Japanese 音読み (on'yomi, literally “sound reading”).

In the Japanese language, a pronunciation, or reading, of a kanji character that was originally based on the character's pronunciation in Chinese, contrasted with kun.
“Most kanji have two kinds of reading, called "on" and "kun".”

prep

Etymology: From Old Norse ón, án (“without”), from Proto-Germanic *ēnu, *ēno, *ino (“without”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḗnu (“without”). Cognate with North Frisian on (“without”), Middle Dutch an, on (“without”), Middle Low German āne (“without”), German ohne (“without”), Gothic 𐌹𐌽𐌿 (inu, “without, except”). Unlikely to be related to Ancient Greek ἄνευ (áneu, “without”), which is likely akin to Proto-Germanic *sundraz instead (whence sunder).

Without.

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Middle English on English on From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola a, an, ana, on (“on”), Saterland Frisian an (“on; at”), West Frisian oan (“on; to, towards”), Cimbrian aan, å (“on, onto”), Dutch aan (“on; at”), Low German an (“on; at, to”), German an (“at, in; on”), Luxembourgish un (“on; at, to”), Yiddish אָן (on, “on, onward”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish å (“on”), Elfdalian ą̊ (“on”), Faroese and Icelandic á (“in; on”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana, “at, on”); also Umbrian 𐌀𐌌- (am-), 𐌀𐌍- (an-, “up, upon”), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, upon”) (whence Greek ανά (aná, “by, through, per”)), Albanian në (“in; on”), Latvian no (“from; out of; for; of; with”), Lithuanian nuo (“from, off; for, of”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian на (na, “on”), Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene na (“on”), Serbo-Croatian на, na (“on”), Old Armenian ան- (an-, “at, on, unto”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish på (“on”), Norwegian Nynorsk paa, på (“on”), see upon.

To switch on.
“Can you on the light?”

preposition

adverb

adjective

Wiktionary

adj

adv

name

noun

prep

verb