ass

• enPR: ăs, IPA^(key): /æs/

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• Rhymes: -æs

From Middle English as, ass, asse, from Old English assa, back-formed from assen (“she-ass”), from Celtic (compare Old Irish asan, Old Cornish asen), from Latin asinus. Replaced Old English eosol, from late Proto-Germanic *asiluz (compare Old High German esil, Old Saxon esil, Gothic 𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃 (asilus)), also a loanword from the same Latin word.

ass (plural asses)

Somali wild ass

1. Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden.

   Synonym: donkey

   • 1646, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or, Enquiries into Very Many Received Tenents, and Commonly Presumed Truths, London: Printed for Tho. Harper for Edvvard Dod, OCLC 838860010; Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or, Enquiries into Very Many Received Tenents, and Commonly Presumed Truths. […], book 6, 2nd corrected and much enlarged edition, London: Printed by A. Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath. Ekins, […], 1650, OCLC 152706203, page 282:

     Thus the Aſſe having a peculiar mark of a croſſe made by a black liſt down his back, and another athwart, or at right angles down his ſhoulders; common opinion aſcribes this figure unto a peculiar ſignation; ſince that beaſt had the honour to bear our Saviour on his back.

2. (slang) A stupid person.

   That new kid left the cap off the syrup bottle again! What an ass.

   Synonyms: fool, idiot

• (beast of burden): donkey, onager, wild ass

• asinine

• Appendix:Animals
• Appendix:English collective nouns

Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)).

Contrary to the widespread belief of this being a euphemism, it arose as a pronunciation spelling (of the older form arse still used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) that shows the loss of -r- before s increasingly common in all words since the 18th century in both England and its colonies. In the USA, "dropping Rs" (non-rhotic pronunciation) was common in prestige speech until the 1860s, when the American Civil War shifted the country's centers of wealth and political power to areas with fewer cultural connections to the British elite. (See also these similar cases, some of which retained both spellings with different meanings: cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel.)

ass (countable and uncountable, plural asses)

1. (vulgar, slang) Buttocks.
2. (vulgar, slang, uncountable) Sex.

   I’m going to go down to the bar and try to get me some ass.

3. (vulgar, slang) Anus.
   • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, page 68

     Train compartment: two sick young junkies on their way to Lexington tear their pants down in convulsions of lust. One of them soaps his cock and works it up the other's ass with a corkscrew motion.

4. (slang) Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.

   I feel like ass today. ― I am feeling very bad today.

   This room smells like ass. ― This room smells very bad.

   What a bunch of ass. ― What a bunch of lies/nonsense/disappointment.

5. (vulgar, slang) Used after an adjective to indicate extremes or excessiveness.

   That was one big-ass fish!

   That's an expensive-ass car!

6. (vulgar, slang, metonymically) One's self or person, chiefly their body.

   Get your lazy ass out of bed!

• When used with a possessive, it adds a tone of anger or disapproval to the whole sentence: "he has trouble getting his ass up in the morning" is much stronger and more negative than "he has trouble getting up in the morning". Such usage is also considered by many to be rude, vulgar and offensive, especially when it refers to the person addressed.

• (buttocks): See Thesaurus:buttocks
• (vulgar slang:sex): poontang, poon, punani, pussy, tail, tang

• L. Sprague de Camp (1971), “Arse and ass”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, volume 1, issue 2, DOI:10.1017/S0025100300000281, pages 79–80

• SAS, SSA, Sas

ass

1. Switzerland and Liechtenstein standard spelling of aß.

From Proto-Baltic *as-i-s, from Proto-Indo-European *aḱs-, from *aǵ-es-, from *aǵ- (“to move something (with extended arms); armpit”). Originally an i/n-stem, it became an i-stem in Baltic. Cognates include Lithuanian ašis, Old Prussian assis, Russian ось (osʹ), Belarusian вось (vosʹ), Ukrainian вісь (visʹ), Bulgarian ос (os), Czech os, Polish oś, Old High German ahsa, German Achse, Sanskrit अक्षः (ákṣaḥ, “axle”), Ancient Greek ἅξων (háxōn) (Greek άξονας (áxonas)), Latin axis.[1]

• IPA^(key): [as]

ass f (6th declension)

1. axle (pin or spindle around which something, e.g. a wheel, rotates)

   ratu ass ― axletree

   vagona ass ― wagon axle

   motocikla pakaļējā riteņa ass ― motorcycle rear wheel axle

2. (mathematics) axis (a line with certain important properties)

   simetrijas, rotācijas ass ― axis of symmetry, of rotation

   zemes griešanās ass ― the Earth's rotation axis

   koordinātu asis ― coordinate axes

   abscisu, ordinātu ass ― x-, y-axis

From the same source as ass (“axle”), originally a unit of measurement corresponding to the length of a person's outstretched arms (compare Russian са́жень (sáženʹ, “old unit of measurement; length of outstretched arms”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [as]

ass f (6th declension)

1. old unit of length in the Russian system, equivalent to approximately 2.13 meters

   jūras ass ― fathom (unit of length in the English system, approximately 1.83 meters)

2. old unit of volume for measuring wood, equivalent to approximately 2-4 cubic meters

   divas asis malkas ― two axes (=4-8m³) of wood

From earlier *asus, from Proto-Baltic *ašus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed, edgy”). With an extra suffix *-ro, the same stem also yielded Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśras (“sharp”), whence Latvian dialectal asrs, as well as the Lithuanian cognate aštrùs, dialectal ašrùs. From this stem, there are also Latvian reflexes with ak rather than as (e.g., akmens (“stone”), akots (“awn”)), possibly a result of Proto-Indo-European dialectal variation. In Latvian, former u-stem adjectives like *asus were assimilated into other classes; *asus gave rise to both an o-stem and a yo-stem variant which later on became independent words, ass and ašs, with different semantic nuances (compare also, e.g., plats and plašs, or dobs and dobjš). Other cognates include Old Church Slavonic остръ (ostrŭ), Russian о́стрый (óstryj), Belarusian во́стры (vóstry), Ukrainian о́стрий (óstryj), го́стрий (hóstryj), Bulgarian о́стър (óstǎr), Czech ostrý, Polish ostry, Proto-Germanic *agjō (Old High German ecka, egga (“corner, edge, point, peak, blade”), German Ecke, Sanskrit अश्रिः (áśriḥ, “corner, edge, blade”), Ancient Greek ἀκή (akḗ, “point, tip”), ἄκρος (ákros, “sharp, pointed”), Latin ācer (“sharp”), aciēs (“sharpness, blade”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [as]

ass (asais comparative, asāks superlative, visasākais adverb, asi)

1. sharp (such that it (blade, tool) can easily cut or pierce)

   ass nazis, zāģis, cirvis ― sharp knife, saw, ax

   ass īlens, ilknis ― sharp awl, fang

   asa adata ― sharp needle

   asi ragi, ilkņi ― sharp horns, fangs

2. pointed (having a narrow tip)

   asas kalnu galotnes ― sharp mountain tops

   ass zīmulis ― sharp pencil

3. angular, not rounded (of body parts; also of writing, drawing)

   asi elkoņi ― sharp elbows

   asi vaigu kauli ― sharp cheekbones

   asas burtu formas rokrakstā ― sharp letter forms in handwriting

4. (of plants) sharp (having little thorns or thorn-like growths, or having a sharp edge, capable of stinging)

   ass dadzis, paeglis, grīslis ― sharp thistle, juniper, sedge

   asa zāle, nātre ― sharp leaf, nettle

5. (of fabric, skin, etc.) coarse, rough

   asa sejas āda ― coarse, rough facial skin

   ass linu dvielis ― towel (made) of coarse linen

6. sharp, pungent, hot (which irritates the senses, creating a strong feeling or reaction)

   asa mērce ― spicy, hot (lit. sharp) sauce

   asa dūmu smaka ― pungent smell of smoke

   ass ož pēc hlora ― sharp smell of chlorine

   ass vējš ― sharp wind

   asas sāpes ― sharp pain

   ass klepus ― sharp (painful) cough

7. harsh (voice, sound); sharp, biting, unsparing, fierce

   asā balss ― harsh voice

   runāt asā tonī ― to speak in a harsh tone (of voice)

   ass sarkasms ― sharp, biting sarcasm

   ass pārmetumi ― sharp, harsh criticism

   asa ķilda ― fierce quarrel

   asa mēle ― sharp tongue (= caustic, sarcastic)

8. sharp, well-defined, clearly marked

   asas kontūras ― sharp contour, profile

   asi sejas vaibsti ― sharp facial features

   zīmēt asām līnijām ― to draw with sharp, well-defined lines

9. (about problems, questions) clear, acute, of immediate importance

   asa problēma ― a clear, acute problem

10. sharp (very well developed, very accurate)

    asa redze ― sharp vision

    ass prāts ― sharp mind

    asa uztvere ― sharp perception, acumen

• (of "sharp"): skaudrs
• (of "coarse", "harsh"): raupjš, rupjš, negluds, skarbs

• (of "sharp"): truls, neass
• (of "coarse", "harsh"): gluds, maigs, mīksts

• asums

ass

1. is (third-person singular present of sinn)

From Old Irish ass, masculine and neuter singular form of a (“out of, from”), from Proto-Celtic *exs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“from”). Compare Irish as.

ass

1. out

ass

1. out of

• ass y çheer
• ass y hene

ass

1. 1st person plural of ec

   out of him/it

• assyn (emphatic)

ass

1. Alternative form of asshe (“burnt matter”)

• as
• es

• IPA^(key): /as/

ass

1. third-person singular masculine of a

ass n

1. (music) A-flat
2. an insured letter; Abbreviation of assurerat. (brev)

• rek