as

as¹ to the same degree; in the way that

Pronunciation

• /æz/, /əz/^[1]

Etymology

The adverb and conjunction is inherited from Middle English as, reduced from als, alse and also,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English ealswā (“all so, wholly so, quite so”), also alswā.^[5][6][7][8] The Old English form joins eall (“all”) to swā (“so”) and began as an intensive of the adverb so,^[6][5][9] which makes the word in origin the same as also.^[6][10] It is related to German als (“as, than”), from Middle High German also,^[9][3] and Dictionary.com lists as cognates Middle Dutch alse, Dutch als and Old High German alsō;^[4] the Shorter Oxford compares Old Frisian asa.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its full Old English form, of degree: to that extent, in the correlative pattern "as bright as gold", recorded in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies.^[6] Old English used the form in all the main senses of so.^[6] Barnhart dates ealswā to before 950, and the weakened ase and earlier als and alse to probably before 1200.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word wore down in stress and form through Middle English, by way of alsa, alse and als to the present form.^[5][10] The OED finds that the shrinking came first in the relative use, as in the second as of "as good as", and later in the first.^[6] The Middle English Dictionary notes that the fuller forms occur as late as 1400, but that the short form predominates after about 1200 and is fully established by about 1400.^[2] Since around 1500 the two-syllable also has kept the separate use as a simple demonstrative, so that the modern functions are divided between the two forms.^[6] Barnhart observes that in history the word is equivalent to so and has all its relational uses, the differences being largely idiomatic.^[5][9] It was once written together with common adjectives and adverbs (asmuch, aswell, assoon), a habit that survives in forasmuch, inasmuch and whereas.^[5] Some older constructions have died out: the type with so in the subordinate clause was gone by about 1450,^[6] and as opening an emphatic command, as in Chaucer's Miller's Tale, by about 1500.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave as his first sense "in the same manner with something else".^[11] In 19th-century dialects it served as a relative pronoun ("him as Miss T. is going to marry"), though not in the far north, where at was usual, and after comparatives for "than".^[12] Merriam-Webster still labels the relative use with a noun or pronoun antecedent dialectal.^[13]

Timeline

• before 950 – ealswā, all so, wholly so.^[5]
• before 1200 – reduced forms ase, als, alse.^[5]
• c. 1200 – the short form, fully established by about 1400.^[9][2]
• late 14th century – the phrase as it were.^[9]
• late 15th century – the phrase as well, just as much.^[9]
• c. 1500 – the fuller also is confined to the demonstrative use.^[6]
• 1892 – as if, in Kantian metaphysics, translating German als ob.^[9]
• 1995 – as if!, an interjection of disbelief.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. To the same degree or amount; equally: The tenor held the note as steadily as a bell.^[13][14]
2. For instance: large cats, as the lion or leopard.^[13][14]

Conjunction

1. To the same degree that, used after as or so: The river is as deep as it is wide.^[13][14]
2. In the way that: He cooks as only his mother can.^[15][6]
3. While; at the moment when: The phone rang as she was locking the door.^[15][4]
4. Because; since: As it was raining, we stayed at home.^[4]

Preposition

1. In the role or capacity of: She served as treasurer for ten years.^[13]
2. Like; in the manner of: His voice was as a distant drum.^[13]

Pronoun

1. That, who or which, after same or such: They kept the same customs as their parents did.^[13]
2. (dialect) That, who or which, after a noun or pronoun: the man as sold me the horse.^[13][12]

Word family

• whereas
• whenas
• forasmuch
• inasmuch

as² Roman coin

Etymology tree of as²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin ās

English as

Pronunciation

• /ˈæs/^[1]

Etymology

The word for the coin is borrowed from Latin ās (“a unit, one, a whole; a small coin”), genitive assis.^{[6][3][9][13][8]} Its further origin is unclear: Collins calls it probably Etruscan,^[15] and Etymonline suggests that it was perhaps Etruscan and related to the Greek word for one, or else taken directly from Greek;^[9] Klein instead takes it as meaning a square piece of metal, identical with assis, axis (“plank, disc”) and related to asser (“pole, stake”).^[3] The Latin word is also the source of ace, through as.^[9][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ancient Roman copper coin: 1541, in T. Elyot's The Image of Gouernance.^[6] Merriam-Webster gives 1540 as the first date of its Roman weight sense,^[13] the Shorter Oxford the mid 16th century,^[8] and Collins the 17th century.^[15]

Semantic evolution

The Shorter Oxford labels the word as belonging to Roman antiquities.^[8] The coin itself lost weight over time: the OED has it starting at twelve ounces and reduced in stages to half an ounce,^[6][8] and Etymonline adds that it began as a rectangular bronze plaque weighing a pound and became a round coin under the emperors.^[9]

Timeline

• 1541 – an ancient Roman coin.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bronze or copper coin of ancient Rome, whose weight fell from twelve ounces to half an ounce; plural asses.^[13][6][8]
2. A similar coin issued by some Roman emperors.^[13]
3. A unit of value equal to such a coin.^[13]
4. The Roman pound, a unit of weight.^[13]