ass

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See also: Ass, ASS, -ass, Áss, Äss, áss, äss, and ašs

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ăs, IPA(key): /æs/
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æs

Etymology 1

From Middle English asse, from Old English assa, back-formed from assen (“she-ass”), from Celtic (compare Old Irish asan, Old Cornish asen), from Latin asinus. Replaced Old English esol, from Proto-West Germanic *asil, also a loanword from the same Latin word.

Noun

ass (plural asses)

Somali wild ass
  1. Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden.
    Synonym: donkey
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  2. (slang) A stupid person.
    • 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World‎[1]:
      I had sprung to my feet. I was speaking, and yet I had prepared no words. Tarp Henry, my companion, was plucking at my skirts and I heard him whispering, "Sit down, Malone! Don't make a public ass of yourself."
    That new kid left the cap off the syrup bottle again! What an ass.
    Synonyms: fool, idiot
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Etymology 2

Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)).

Contrary to the widespread belief of this being a euphemism, it arose as a pronunciation spelling (of the older form arse still used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that shows the loss of -r- before s increasingly common in all words since the 18th century in both England and its colonies. In the USA, "dropping Rs" (non-rhotic pronunciation) was common in prestige speech until the 1860s, when the American Civil War shifted the country's centers of wealth and political power to areas with fewer cultural connections to the British elite. (See also these similar cases, some of which retained both spellings with different meanings: cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel.)

Noun

ass (countable and uncountable, plural asses)

  2. (vulgar, slang, countable and uncountable) Buttocks.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:buttocks
  3. (vulgar, slang, countable and uncountable) Anus.
    • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, page 68
      Train compartment: two sick young junkies on their way to Lexington tear their pants down in convulsions of lust. One of them soaps his cock and works it up the other's ass with a corkscrew motion.
  4. (vulgar, slang, uncountable) Sex.
    Synonyms: poontang, poon, punani, pussy, tail, tang; see also Thesaurus:copulation
    I’m going to go down to the bar and try to get me some ass.
    • 1971, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Blue”, in Blue:
      Acid, booze, and ass / Needles, guns, and grass
  5. (vulgar, slang, uncountable) Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.
    I feel like ass today. ― I am feeling very bad today.
    This room smells like ass. ― This room smells very bad.
    What a bunch of ass. ― What a bunch of lies/nonsense/disappointment.
  6. (vulgar, slang, metonymically, countable) One's self or person, chiefly their body. By extension, one's personal safety, or figuratively one's job, prospects, etc.
    Get your lazy ass out of bed!
    We risk our asses out there every day.
Usage notes
  • When used metonymically to refer to a person, it adds a tone of anger or disapproval to the whole sentence: "he has trouble getting his ass up in the morning" is much stronger and more negative than "he has trouble getting up in the morning". Such usage is also considered by many to be rude, vulgar and offensive, especially when it refers to the person addressed.
Derived terms
Terms derived from ass (buttocks, vulgar)
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adverb

ass

  1. (postpositive, vulgar, slang) Used after an adjective to indicate extremes or excessiveness. (Should we delete(+) this sense?)
    Synonym: -ass
    That was one big ass fish!
    That's an expensive ass car!

Further reading

  • L. Sprague de Camp (1971) “Arse and ass”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, volume 1, number 2, →DOI, pages 79–80

Anagrams

German

Verb

ass

  1. Switzerland and Liechtenstein standard spelling of aß.

Latvian

Vagona ass
Ass

Etymology 1

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśís, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-. Originally an i/n-stem, it became an i-stem in Baltic.[1]

Pronunciation

Audio:(file)

Noun

ass f (6th declension)

  1. axle (pin or spindle around which something, e.g. a wheel, rotates)
    ratu ass ― axletree
    vagona ass ― wagon axle
    motocikla pakaļējā riteņa ass ― motorcycle rear wheel axle
  2. (mathematics) axis (a line with certain important properties)
    simetrijas, rotācijas ass ― axis of symmetry, of rotation
    zemes griešanās ass ― the Earth's rotation axis
    koordinātu asis ― coordinate axes
    abscisu, ordinātu ass ― x-, y-axis
Declension
Declension of ass (6th declension)
singular (vienskaitlis) plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs) ass asis
accusative (akuzatīvs) asi asis
genitive (ģenitīvs) ass asu
dative (datīvs) asij asīm
instrumental (instrumentālis) asi asīm
locative (lokatīvs) asī asīs
vocative (vokatīvs) ass asis

Etymology 2

From the same source as ass (“axle”), originally a unit of measurement corresponding to the length of a person's outstretched arms (compare Russian са́жень (sáženʹ, “old unit of measurement; length of outstretched arms”).[1]

Pronunciation

Audio:(file)

Noun

ass f (6th declension)

  1. old unit of length in the Russian system, equivalent to approximately 2.13 meters
    jūras ass ― fathom (unit of length in the English system, approximately 1.83 meters)
  2. old unit of volume for measuring wood, equivalent to approximately 2-4 cubic meters
    divas asis malkas ― two axes (=4-8m3) of wood
Declension
Declension of ass (6th declension)
singular (vienskaitlis) plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs) ass asis
accusative (akuzatīvs) asi asis
genitive (ģenitīvs) ass asu
dative (datīvs) asij asīm
instrumental (instrumentālis) asi asīm
locative (lokatīvs) asī asīs
vocative (vokatīvs) ass asis

Etymology 3

From earlier *asus, from Proto-Baltic *ašus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed, edgy”). With an extra suffix *-ro, the same stem also yielded Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśras (“sharp”), whence Latvian dialectal asrs, as well as the Lithuanian cognate aštrùs, dialectal ašrùs. From this stem, there are also Latvian reflexes with ak rather than as (e.g., akmens (“stone”), akots (“awn”)), possibly a result of Proto-Indo-European dialectal variation. In Latvian, former u-stem adjectives like *asus were assimilated into other classes; *asus gave rise to both an o-stem and a yo-stem variant which later on became independent words, ass and ašs, with different semantic nuances (compare also, e.g., plats and plašs, or dobs and dobjš). Other cognates include Old Church Slavonic остръ (ostrŭ), Russian о́стрый (óstryj), Belarusian во́стры (vóstry), Ukrainian о́стрий (óstryj), го́стрий (hóstryj), Bulgarian о́стър (óstǎr), Czech ostrý, Polish ostry, Proto-Germanic *agjō (Old High German ecka, egga (“corner, edge, point, peak, blade”), German Ecke, Sanskrit अश्रिः (áśriḥ, “corner, edge, blade”), Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter "sc" should be a valid script code; the value "polytonic" is not valid. See WT:LOS., Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter "sc" should be a valid script code; the value "polytonic" is not valid. See WT:LOS., Latin ācer (“sharp”), aciēs (“sharpness, blade”).[1]

Pronunciation

Audio:(file)

Adjective

ass (definite asais, comparative asāks, superlative visasākais, adverb asi)

  1. sharp (such that it (blade, tool) can easily cut or pierce)
    ass nazis, zāģis, cirvis ― sharp knife, saw, ax
    ass īlens, ilknis ― sharp awl, fang
    asa adata ― sharp needle
    asi ragi, ilkņi ― sharp horns, fangs
  2. pointed (having a narrow tip)
    asas kalnu galotnes ― sharp mountain tops
    ass zīmulis ― sharp pencil
  3. angular, not rounded (of body parts; also of writing, drawing)
    asi elkoņi ― sharp elbows
    asi vaigu kauli ― sharp cheekbones
    asas burtu formas rokrakstā ― sharp letter forms in handwriting
  4. (of plants) sharp (having little thorns or thorn-like growths, or having a sharp edge, capable of stinging)
    ass dadzis, paeglis, grīslis ― sharp thistle, juniper, sedge
    asa zāle, nātre ― sharp leaf, nettle
  5. (of fabric, skin, etc.) coarse, rough
    asa sejas āda ― coarse, rough facial skin
    ass linu dvielis ― towel (made) of coarse linen
  6. sharp, pungent, hot (which irritates the senses, creating a strong feeling or reaction)
    asa mērce ― spicy, hot (lit. sharp) sauce
    asa dūmu smaka ― pungent smell of smoke
    ass ož pēc hlora ― sharp smell of chlorine
    ass vējš ― sharp wind
    asas sāpes ― sharp pain
    ass klepus ― sharp (painful) cough
  7. harsh (voice, sound); sharp, biting, unsparing, fierce
    asā balss ― harsh voice
    runāt asā tonī ― to speak in a harsh tone (of voice)
    ass sarkasms ― sharp, biting sarcasm
    ass pārmetumi ― sharp, harsh criticism
    asa ķilda ― fierce quarrel
    asa mēle ― sharp tongue (= caustic, sarcastic)
  8. sharp, well-defined, clearly marked
    asas kontūras ― sharp contour, profile
    asi sejas vaibsti ― sharp facial features
    zīmēt asām līnijām ― to draw with sharp, well-defined lines
  9. (about problems, questions) clear, acute, of immediate importance
    asa problēma ― a clear, acute problem
  10. sharp (very well developed, very accurate)
    asa redze ― sharp vision
    ass prāts ― sharp mind
    asa uztvere ― sharp perception, acumen
Declension
indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of ass
masculine (vīriešu dzimte) feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
singular
(vienskaitlis) 		plural
(daudzskaitlis) 		singular
(vienskaitlis) 		plural
(daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs) ass asi asa asas
accusative (akuzatīvs) asu asus asu asas
genitive (ģenitīvs) asa asu asas asu
dative (datīvs) asam asiem asai asām
instrumental (instrumentālis) asu asiem asu asām
locative (lokatīvs) asā asos asā asās
vocative (vokatīvs) — — — —
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “ass”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN.

Luxembourgish

Verb

ass

  1. is (third-person singular present of sinn)

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish ass, masculine and neuter singular form of a (“out of, from”), from Proto-Celtic *exs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“from”). Compare Irish as.

Adverb

ass

  1. out

Preposition

ass

  1. out of

Inflection

Singular Plural
Person 1st 2nd 3rd m. 3rd f. 1st 2nd 3rd
Normal assym assyd ass assjee assdooin assdiu assdaue
Emphatic assyms assyds assyn assjeeish assdooinyn assdiuish assdauesyn

Derived terms

Pronoun

ass

  1. first-person plural of ec
    out of him/it

Derived terms

Middle English

Noun

ass

  1. Alternative form of asshe (“burnt matter”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

  • Ass (alternative capitalization)

Noun

ass m (definite singular assen, indefinite plural asser, definite plural assene)

  1. (music) A-flat

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

  • Ass (alternative capitalization)

Noun

ass m (definite singular assen, indefinite plural assar, definite plural assane)

  1. (music) A-flat

Old Irish

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Pronoun

ass

  1. third-person singular masculine of a

Swedish

Noun

ass n

  1. (music) A-flat
  2. an insured letter; Abbreviation of assurerat. (brev)

Declension

Declension of ass 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ass asset ass assen
Genitive ass assets ass assens

See also

Anagrams

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