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At vs An - What's the difference?

at | an |

As a symbol at

is .

As a noun an is

favor, grace.

at

English

(AT)

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • In or very near a particular place.
  • :
  • *
  • *:“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
  • *
  • *:(b ) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.
  • (indicating time) Simultaneous, during.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=Other global taboos, such as sex and suicide, manifest themselves widely online, with websites offering suicide guides and Hot XXX Action seconds away at the click of a button. The UK government will come under pressure to block access to pornographic websites this year when a committee of MPs publishes its report on protecting children online.}}
  • In the direction of (often in an unfocused or uncaring manner).
  • :
  • *
  • *:“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
  • Occupied in (activity).
  • :
  • :
  • Because of.
  • :
  • Holding a given speed or .
  • :
  • In a state of.
  • :
  • bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to
  • *1995 Keith Wood, quoted in David Hughes, " Wood odds-on to take one against the head", in The Independent (London) 18 January:
  • *:I think `Jesus, my back is at' me'. Then I get the ball. Off you go for 10 yards and you don't feel a thing. Then you stop and think: `Jesus, it's ' at me again'[.]
  • *2014 Marian Keyes " Antarctic Diary - Part 2" personal website (January 2014):
  • *:He seems to be saying. “Ah, go on, you’re making the other lads feel bad.” But the 4th fella says, “No. Don’t be ‘at’ me. I’m just not in the form right now, I’ll stay where I am, thanks.”
  • Usage notes

    * He threw the ball to me — (so I could catch it). * He threw the ball at me — (trying to hit me with it). * He talked to her — (conversationally). * He shouted at her — (aggressively).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • the symbol.
  • Statistics

    *

    an

    English

    (wikipedia an)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Article

    (head)
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • (UK, non-standard) used in many British regional accents before some words beginning with a pronounced h
  • Usage notes
    * The article (an) is used before vowel sounds and (optionally) before silent aitches, and (a) before consonant sounds. * The various article senses of (a), all are senses of (term).

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) an

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (archaic) If, so long as.
  • An it please you, my lord.
  • (archaic) as if; as though.
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge , The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere (Original Version of 1797) 61-64:
    At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the Fog it came; And an it were a Christian Soul, We hail'd it in God's Name.

    Etymology 3

    .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, (Nuskhuri).
  • Etymology 4

    From the (etyl) preposition an/on.

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • In each; to or for each; per.
  • I was only going twenty miles an hour.
    Usage notes
    * This is the same as the word a'' in such contexts, modified because of preceding an unpronounced ''h''. ''The train was speeding along at a mile a minute.
    Synonyms
    * per

    References

    *

    Statistics

    *