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ass

Etymology and origin of the English word ass

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English has two words spelled ass: the donkey, from Latin asinus, and the slang word for the buttocks, a variant of arse.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

ass1 donkey

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 830, Vespasian Psalter
Borrowed from
Old Irish asan via Middle English, Old English
Ultimate origin
Latin (asinus)

Etymology

The donkey is inherited from Middle English asse,[1][2] inherited from Old English assa, masculine,[3][5] probably borrowed from Old Irish asan,[2][5] or from a related Celtic form such as Middle Welsh asen,[5][6] from Latin asinus.[3][1][5] De Vaan says that the form of asinus suggests a loanword into Latin, and that most Indo-European words for “ass” are loanwords;[3] like Greek ónos it is thought to come from a language of Asia Minor (compare Sumerian anšu).[3][5] Old Saxon esil, German Esel and Gothic asilus come from Latin asinus or asellus by another route.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English assa is recorded before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter,[5] and the feminine assen about 1000.[5] These forms were replaced in Middle English by he-ass and she-ass, before 1382 in Wycliffe's Bible.[5]

Semantic evolution

Since Greek times the ass has stood in fables and proverbs for clumsiness and stupidity,[3][8] and a stupid person has been an ass from the 15th century[7] (1578 in the OED).[8] To make an ass of oneself is from A Midsummer Night's Dream (1590).[3][8] The Asses' Bridge, from Latin pons asinorum, is the fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid, from about 1780.[3][8] In everyday use donkey has largely replaced the word, but ass remains in the language of Scripture, natural history, proverb and fable.[3]

Timeline

  • before 830 – Old English assa.[5]
  • before 1382 – he-ass and she-ass.[5]
  • 15th century – a stupid person.[7]
  • 1590 – to make an ass of oneself.[3][8]
  • c. 1780 – the Asses' Bridge.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hoofed animal related to the horse, smaller and with longer ears; the donkey.
  2. A foolish or stupid person.

Word family

  • jackass
  • asinine

ass2 buttocks

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1860
Inherited from
Old English ærs via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ors-)

Etymology

The buttocks is a dialect variant pronunciation of arse,[3][6][9] inherited from Middle English ars, ers,[2][1] inherited from Old English ærs, ears,[2][1] from Proto-Indo-European *ors-.[1] The loss of -r- before -s- is not unusual, as in bust from burst and cuss from curse.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“The backside”: by 1860, in nautical slang;[3][8] it came into popular use from 1930, chiefly in the United States.[3]

Semantic evolution

Indirect evidence of the change from arse to ass goes back to the 17th century: by the 1680s arse was rhymed with “-ass” words,[3] and some see a pun in Shakespeare's turning of Nick Bottom into an ass.[3] By 1785 polite speakers were avoiding ass even in the sense “donkey”.[3] A woman regarded as a sexual object is from the early 1940s (1942),[3][8] and one's ass, “one's self, one's person”, is attested by 1958.[3][8] The word is used casually in many phrases as an intensifier, from 1946.[8]

Timeline

  • 1680s – arse rhymed with “-ass” words.[3]
  • 1860 – the backside (nautical slang).[3][8]
  • 1930 – in popular use.[3]
  • 1942 – sexual sense.[8]
  • 1958 – one's ass, oneself.[3][8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly US, vulgar) The buttocks; the anus.
  2. (vulgar) Sexual intercourse; a person regarded as a sexual object.
  3. (vulgar) Oneself: get your ass over here.

Word family

  • badass
  • smart-ass
  • kick-ass

Usage notes

In British English the word for the buttocks is usually spelled and pronounced arse.[6][9] In the dialects of Durham, the Lake District, Yorkshire and Lancashire ass was also a form of “ask”.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)

Related etymologies

  • cross · also from Old Irish
  • something · also from Old English
  • spring · also from Old English
  • game · also from Old English
  • end · also from Old English
  • school · also from Old English
  • without · also from Old English
  • put · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Ass.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/ass. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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