Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

at

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads
See also: Appendix:Variations of "at"
Languages (50)
English
Albanian • Azerbaijani • Bikol Central • Central Puebla Nahuatl • Chuukese • Crimean Tatar • Danish • Dutch • Eastern Durango Nahuatl • Egyptian • Faroese • Friulian • German • Gothic • Hokkien • Icelandic • Irish • Kapampangan • Ladin • Latin • Livonian • Middle English • North Frisian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Irish • Old Norse • Pipil • Pnar • Pochutec • Salar • Scots • Scottish Gaelic • Selaru • Serbo-Croatian • Simeulue • Tagalog • Tlingit • Tocharian B • Torres Strait Creole • Turkish • Turkmen • Volapük • Wakhi • Welsh • West Frisian • West Makian • Wolof • Yola
Page categories
Remove ads

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
    Proto-Germanic *at
    Old English æt
    Middle English at
    English at

    From Middle English at, from Old English æt (“at, near, by, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, near, to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“near, at”). Cognate with Scots at (“at”), North Frisian äät, äit, et, it (“at”), Danish at (“to”), Swedish åt (“for, toward”), Norwegian åt (“to”), Faroese at (“at, to, toward”), Icelandic að (“to, towards”), Gothic 𐌰𐍄 (at, “at”), Latin ad (“to, near”).

    Preposition

    at

    1. In, near, or in the general vicinity of (a particular place).
      Caesar was at Rome; a climate treaty was signed at Kyoto in 1997.
      I was at Jim’s house at the corner of Fourth Street and Vine.
      at the bottom of the page; sitting at the table; at church; at sea
      • 1919, Plutarch, “The Life of Cicero” in Parallel Lives, 43 (Bernadotte Perrin, trans.):
        Hirtius and Pansa, who were good men and admirers of Cicero, begged him not to desert them, and undertook to put down Antony if Cicero would remain at Rome.
      • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4:
        (b) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.
      • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain):
        Today my friend Marsha is at her friend’s house.
      1. Attending (an educational institution).
        She's at Oxford University, studying chemistry.
      2. Working for (a company) or in (a place or situation).
        He used to be at Lehman Brothers. Now he's at Merrill Lynch.
        "Where does he work?" — "I think he's still at the solicitors."
      3. Indicating distance or direction relative to the speaker.
        Target at five miles. Prepare torpedoes.
        Look out! UFO at two o'clock!
    2. Present or taking place during (an event).
      Was he at the meeting?
      There was a big fight at the class reunion.
    3. Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.
      at six o’clock; at dawn; at closing time; at the age of twelve; at night; at the moment
      • 1838, The Family Magazine:
        Lafayette was major-general in the American army at the age of 18 […]
      • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
        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.
      • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
        Hi, Anne. Are you busy? — Hi, Anna. Yes. At 10 a.m. I am writing.
      1. (UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, especially finance) (also as at; before dates) On (a particular date).
        • n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary:
          balance as at 20th March 1999
    4. In the direction of; towards; (often implied to be in a hostile or careless manner).
      Don’t just talk at someone; really listen to what they have to say.
      Stones were thrown at us, but we coudn't see who did.
      He shouted at her.
      She pointed at the curious animal.
      • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
        “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.”
      • 2023 July 9, Barbie, spoken by Ken (Ryan Gosling):
        Come on in. I’ll play the guitar at you.
    5. Indicating action bearing upon something, especially continued or repeated action.
      Don't pick at your food!
      My cat keeps scratching at the furniture.
      I was working at the problem all day.
    6. In response or reaction to.
      At my request, they agreed to move us to another hotel.
      He jumped at the sudden noise.
      We laughed at the joke.
      She was mad at their comments.
    7. Occupied in (activity).
      men at work; children at play
    8. In a state of.
      The two countries are at war.
      She is at sixes and sevens with him.
      They are at loggerheads over how best to tackle the fiscal cliff.
    9. Subject to.
      We hope that the event will go ahead, but we are at the whim of the weather.
      The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces.
    11. Denotes a price.
      3 apples at 2¢ (each)
      The offer was at $30,000 before negotiations.
    12. Indicates a position on a scale or in a series.
      Sell at $90.
      Tiger finished the round at tenth, seven strokes behind the leaders.
      I’m offering it—just to select customers—at cost.
      The river is at its highest in spring.
      These babies weigh in at ten tons apiece.
      at best; at most; at worst; at least
    13. In certain phrases, used to indicate the manner in which something happens or is done.
      The car came towards me at speed.
      He spoke at great length on the topic.
      The winner will be chosen at random.
      • 2012, Sami Moubayed, Syria and the USA: Washington's Relations with Damascus, →ISBN:
        A few days later, on 1 October, King Hussein opened the Jordanian Parliament by speaking at length about the crisis in Syria,
    14. Indicates a specific speed or rate that is maintained by something.
      We were cruising along at well over the speed limit of fifty miles per hour.
      It is growing at the rate of 3% a year.
    15. Indicates a means or method.
      "How was the painting sold?" — "At auction."
      • 1995, Richard Klein, Cigarettes are Sublime, →ISBN, page 41:
        […] to be sold at auction for sixty gold francs.
    16. (used for skills (including in activities) or areas of knowledge) On the subject of; regarding.
      The twins were both bad at chemistry.
      He slipped at marksmanship over his extended vacation.
      • 2015, Sanyan Stories: Favorites from a Ming Dynasty Collection, →ISBN, page 157:
        She’s good at playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
    17. (Ireland, stressed pronunciation) 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.”
    18. Also used in various other idiomatic combinations: at a pinch, at all, at fault, at pains, at risk, at that, etc.; see the individual entries.
    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).
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Noun

    at (plural ats)

    2. The at sign (@).
    Usage notes
    • Can sometimes be used between square brackets in substitution of @ in emails
      • jon.smith[at]example.com or jon.smith [at] example.com
    Translations

    Verb

    at (third-person singular simple present ats, present participle atting, simple past and past participle atted)

    1. (informal, neologism) Rare form of @; to reply to or talk to someone, either online or face-to-face. (from the practice of targeting a message or reply to someone online by writing @name)
      • 2022, William Morris, Motley Vision:
        If you have questions or observations on my discussion questions, feel free to reply to this email, at me on Twitter, or comment on the companion post on AMV.
    Usage notes
    • Chiefly used in the phrase "don't @ me"/"don't at me". It can be used humorously when stated after an unpopular or ironic opinion, in order to forestall dissent.

    Etymology 2

    Pronoun

    at

    1. (Northern England, rare, possibly obsolete) Alternative form of 'at (relative pronoun; reduced form of “that” and/or “what”).
      • 1860, Robert Gordon Latham, Song of Solomon, as spoken in Durham [by Thomas Moore], in A hand-book of the English language:
        Tak us t’ foxes, t’ little foxes at spoils t’ veynes: fer our veynes hev tender grapes.

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    at (plural ats or at)

    1. Alternative form of att (Laos currency unit)

    References

    • “at”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

    Anagrams

    Remove ads

    Albanian

    Azerbaijani

    Bikol Central

    Central Puebla Nahuatl

    Chuukese

    Crimean Tatar

    Danish

    Dutch

    Eastern Durango Nahuatl

    Egyptian

    Faroese

    Friulian

    German

    Gothic

    Hokkien

    Icelandic

    Irish

    Kapampangan

    Ladin

    Latin

    Livonian

    Middle English

    North Frisian

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Old Irish

    Old Norse

    Pipil

    Pnar

    Pochutec

    Salar

    Scots

    Scottish Gaelic

    Selaru

    Serbo-Croatian

    Simeulue

    Tagalog

    Tlingit

    Tocharian B

    Torres Strait Creole

    Turkish

    Turkmen

    Volapük

    Wakhi

    Welsh

    West Frisian

    West Makian

    Wolof

    Yola

    Wikiwand - on

    Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

    Remove ads
    Remove ads