again

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈɡen/, /əˈɡeɪn/ (UK); /əˈɡen/ (US)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English again, ayen,^[3][4] inherited from Old English ongēan (“toward, opposite, against; back”), later agēn,^[5][6][7] formed from Old English on (“on”) + -gegn (“against, toward”),^[5][6] from the Germanic root that also gave German gegen (“against”), entgegen and Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct”).^[5][8][7] Barnhart calls the Germanic root of unknown origin.^[8] The hard g is due to Norse influence:^[5][9] the native forms beginning with ay- were superseded by northern forms with ag- and did not survive beyond the 16th century.^[10][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the opposite direction, back (Old English, 993 in the OED, and agan 1031 in Barnhart).^[11][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the main word for “again” was eft (see eftsoons), which was often strengthened by ongēan, “back”;^[5] again became the principal word by the 13th century.^[5][11] As “in return, in reply” it dates from the early 13th century,^[5][11] and as “once more” from the late 14th.^[5][2] In the 16th century southern writers began to distinguish it from against, keeping again as an adverb and using against as preposition and conjunction, but northern and Scottish dialect, which never adopted against, kept again in all senses.^[5][12] The prepositional use survives in dialectal and jocular agin, as in agin the government.^[12][7] After verbs such as ring and echo it meant “in response”, extended to intense action, as in Dickens's “till the glasses in the sideboard rang again”.^[11][7]

Timeline

• 993 – Old English, back, in the opposite direction.^[11]
• 1031 – late Old English agan.^[6]
• early 13th century – in return, in reply.^[5]
• 13th century – becomes the main word for “again”, replacing eft.^[5]
• late 14th century – once more.^[5]
• 16th century – separated from against in southern English.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. Once more; another time; anew: try again.
2. Back to a previous place, position or state: went back again.
3. Furthermore; besides.
4. On the other hand: she might go, and then again she might not.
5. In addition to an amount: half as much again.
6. (archaic) In return; in reply.

Preposition

1. (dialect) Against.

Word family

• born-again
• again and again

Related words

• against
• gainsay
• eftsoons

Usage notes

Random House notes that in the United States the usual pronunciation rhymes with pen; a pronunciation rhyming with pain is found chiefly in the Atlantic states, and one rhyming with pin in much of the South.^[13]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House