Analyze how the etymological roots provided for words like 'Aardvark,' 'Abaca,' and the various forms of 'A' reveal historical connections between different cultures, geographical regions, and even ancient pictographic systems.

From the book

s a new development, after the Conquest, of the A.S. numeral án , one.] A , ä or ā, a prep. , derived from the old prep. on , and still used, as a prefix, in a foot, a field, a part, a sleep, now a days, twice- a -day; also with verbal nouns, as a -building, to be a -doing, to set a -going. It is now admitted only colloquially. [Short for A.S. an , a dialectic form of on , on, in, at. See Prefixes .] A , ä, a dialectic corruption of he or she , as in quoth a , ( Shak. ) ' A babbled of green fields.'— A , usually written a' , Scotch for all ; A , a form of the L. prep. ab , from, of, used…

← Preface Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908 by Thomas Davidson A to Adhere Adhesion to Alexandrine → 1224642 Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908 — A to Adhere Thomas Davidson (1856-1923) fāte, fär; mē, hėr; mīne; mōte; mūte; mōōn; th en. the first letter in our alphabet, its corresponding symbol standing first also in many other alphabets derived from the Phœnician. It originated in the hieroglyphic picture of an eagle (Old Egyptian ahom ), the cursive hieratic form of which was the original of the Phœnician aleph , an ox, from a fancied resemblance to its head and horns.—…

support of any kind; the imaginary line of ancient cosmographers on which a planet revolved.— adj. Ax′led . [More prob. Norse öxull than a dim. from A.S. eax .] Axolotl , aks′o-lotl, n. a reptile found in Mexico, allied to the tailed batrachia, but distinguished by retaining its gills through life. [Mexican.] Ay , ā, interj. ah! oh! alas! esp. in ay me! [M. E. ey , ei , perh. from Fr. ahi , aï ; cf. Sp. ay de mi! ] Ay , Aye , ī, adv. yea: yes: indeed.— n. Aye (ī), a vote in the affirmative: ( pl. ) those who vote in the affirmative. [Perh. a dial. form of aye , ever; perh. a variant of yea .]…

graved therewith on some part of it, often bearing a mystical figure of combined human and animal form, used as a charm. [Said to be coined by the Egyptian Gnostic Basilides in 2d century to express 365 in Greek letters; thus αβραξας used as numerals = 1 + 2 + 100 + 1 + 60 + 1 + 200. But Mr C. W. King finds its origin in Heb. ha-b'rākāh , 'the blessing,' or 'sacred name,' used as the title of a Gnostic deity representing the 365 emanations of the Divine Plērōma or fullness.] Abray , a-brā′, Abrayd , a-brād′, v.i. ( Spens. ) to start out of sleep: to awake.— v.t. and v.i. to arouse,…

. [Port. albricoque (Fr. abricot )—Ar. al-birquq . But bīrquq is a corr. of Late Gr. praikokion , which is simply the L. præcoquum or præcox , early ripe; the form is perh. due to a fancied connection with L. apricus , sunny. See Precocious .] April , ā′pril, n. the fourth month of the year.— n. A′pril-fool , one sent upon a bootless errand on the 1st of April, perhaps a relic of some old Celtic heathen festival. In Scotland called gowk (a cuckoo, a fool). [L. Aprilis , usually regarded as from aperire , as the month when the earth opens to bring forth new fruits.] A priori , ā pri-ō′rī, a…