Etymologically
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ab-

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Forms

ab-, abs-, ā-[1][2] Before ⟨f⟩ it becomes au- (auferō, aufugiō), and before ⟨p⟩ as- (aspellō, asportō).[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ap (“away, off”), the preposition ab used as a prefix.[3][2][1] The prefix shows the same variation as the preposition: ⟨ab-⟩ before vowels and voiced dentals, ⟨ā-⟩ before voiced labials (as in āmoveō and āvellō), and ⟨abs-⟩ before voiceless stops (as in abstineō).[3] De Vaan traces it, with the preposition, to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep-.[3]

Meanings

Prefix

  1. from, away from: abdūcō, abeō, aufugiō.[1][2]
  2. off: abrumpō.[1][2]
  3. At a distance, absent: absum.[1][2]
  4. Completely, thoroughly: absorbeō, absurdus, abūtor.[1][2]
  5. Difference in kind, as in absimilis “unlike”, or absence of what the base names, as in āmēns “out of one's mind”.[1]
  6. (in words of kinship) One degree further removed: abavus “great-great-grandfather”.[1][2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill