ass English · revision 2646

+ English has two words spelled ''ass'': the donkey, from Latin asinus, and the slang word for the buttocks, a variant of [[arse]].^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /æs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|donkey}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 830, Vespasian Psalter|origins=la asinus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The donkey is [[inh|enm|asse]],^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|assa]], masculine,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably [[bor|sga|asan]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) or from a related Celtic form such as Middle Welsh asen,^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|asinus]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) De Vaan says that the form of asinus suggests a loanword into Latin, and that most Indo-European words for “ass” are loanwords;^(Etymonline) like Greek ónos it is thought to come from a language of Asia Minor (compare Sumerian anšu).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Old Saxon esil, German Esel and Gothic asilus come from Latin asinus or asellus by another route.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English assa is recorded before 830, in the ''Vespasian Psalter'',^(Barnhart 1988) and the feminine assen about 1000.^(Barnhart 1988) These forms were replaced in Middle English by he-ass and she-ass, before 1382 in Wycliffe's Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Since Greek times the ass has stood in fables and proverbs for clumsiness and stupidity,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a stupid person has been an ass from the 15th century^(Hoad 1986) (1578 in the OED).^(OED 1989) ''To make an ass of oneself'' is from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1590).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The ''Asses' Bridge'', from Latin pons asinorum, is the fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid, from about 1780.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In everyday use ''donkey'' has largely replaced the word, but ''ass'' remains in the language of Scripture, natural history, proverb and fable.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 830 – Old English assa.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1382 – he-ass and she-ass.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 15th century – a stupid person.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1590 – ''to make an ass of oneself''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1780 – the Asses' Bridge.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hoofed animal related to the [[horse]], smaller and with longer ears; the [[donkey]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A foolish or stupid person.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[jackass]]

+ * [[asinine]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|buttocks}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1860|origins=ine-pro *ors-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The buttocks is a dialect variant pronunciation of [[arse]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) [[inh|enm|ars]], ers,^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000) [[inh|ang|ærs]], ears,^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000) from [[ine-pro|*ors-]].^(AHD 2000) The loss of -r- before -s- is not unusual, as in bust from [[burst]] and cuss from [[curse]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “The backside”: by 1860, in nautical slang;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) it came into popular use from 1930, chiefly in the United States.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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,^(Etymonline) and some see a pun in Shakespeare's turning of Nick Bottom into an ass.^(Etymonline) By 1785 polite speakers were avoiding ''ass'' even in the sense “donkey”.^(Etymonline) A woman regarded as a sexual object is from the early 1940s (1942),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''one's ass'', “one's self, one's person”, is attested by 1958.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The word is used casually in many phrases as an intensifier, from 1946.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1680s – arse rhymed with “-ass” words.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1860 – the backside (nautical slang).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1930 – in popular use.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – sexual sense.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1958 – ''one's ass'', oneself.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly US, vulgar)'' The [[buttocks]]; the [[anus]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' Sexual intercourse; a person regarded as a sexual object.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' Oneself: ''get your ass over here''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[badass]]

+ * [[smart-ass]]

+ * [[kick-ass]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arse]]

+ * [[donkey]]

+ * [[easel]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In British English the word for the buttocks is usually spelled and pronounced ''arse''.^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004) In the dialects of Durham, the Lake District, Yorkshire and Lancashire ''ass'' was also a form of “ask”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}