on

• (British Isles, Eastern New England) enPR: ŏn, IPA^(key): /ɒn/
• (Northern US, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑn/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /ɔn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒn

From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-. Cognate with North Frisian a (“on, in”), Saterland Frisian an (“on, at”), West Frisian oan (“on, at”), Dutch aan (“on, at, to”), Low German an (“on, at”), German an (“to, at, on”), Swedish å (“on, at, in”), Faroese á (“on, onto, in, at”), Icelandic á (“on, in”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up, upon”), Albanian në (“in”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish på, Swedish på, Norwegian på, see upon.

on (not comparable)

1. In the state of being active, functioning or operating.
2. Performing according to schedule.

   Are we still on for tonight?

   Is the show still on?

3. (chiefly Britain, informal, usually negative) Acceptable, appropriate.

   You can't do that; it's just not on.

   • 1998 May 22, "Phoenix Gamma", If I was owned Nintendo..., alt.games.video.nintendo-64:

     This kind of over-packaging of goods is completely not on.

   • 2003 August 12, "DAB sounds worse than FM", Gerg Dyke's Speech at Radio Festival, alt.radio.digital:

     […] , so Simon Nelson saying on Feedback "we'd prefer it if everybody listened to digital radio via DAB" is completely not on at all.

4. (informal) Destined, normally in the context of a challenge being accepted; involved, doomed.

   "Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!"

   Mike just threw coffee onto Paul's lap. It's on now.

5. (baseball, informal) Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter.
   • 2019 February 24, Chris Kennedy, “Aggies Earn Series Win Over Yale in Sunday Finale”, in New Mexico State University Athletics‎:

     With one out and no men on, Tristen Carranza belted a ball to the opposite field for a solo home run to put the NM State deficit at just 2-1.

   • 2019 April 6, Daniel Martinez-Krams, “Baseball Falls Short in Game 2 of UCLA Series”, in The Stanford Daily‎:

     Although Stanford was outhit 15-6, the Cardinal stranded eight runners to UCLA's three, hitting just 3-15 with runners on compared to the Bruin's 9-22.

6. (euphemistic) Menstruating.
   • 2011, Netmums, Hollie Smith, You and Your Tween: Managing the years from 9 to 13, Hachette UK →ISBN

     It still gets in the way of her doing things like swimming, and she avoids sleepovers when she's 'on'.

• (baseball: positioned at a base): on base (not informal)

on (not comparable)

1. To an operating state.

   turn the television on

2. Along, forwards (continuing an action).

   drive on, rock on

   • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎:

     He met Luis Suarez's cross at the far post, only for Chelsea keeper Petr Cech to show brilliant reflexes to deflect his header on to the bar. Carroll turned away to lead Liverpool's insistent protests that the ball had crossed the line but referee Phil Dowd and assistant referee Andrew Garratt waved play on, with even a succession of replays proving inconclusive.

3. In continuation, at length.

   and so on.

   He rambled on and on.

4. (cricket) In, or towards the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman; leg. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (not US) Later.

   Ten years on, nothing had changed in the village.

• (active, functioning, operating): off
• (to an operating state): off
• (later): after, afterward/afterwards, later, subsequently, thence

A green pepper on (positioned on the upper surface of) a box

on

1. Positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above.

   on the table;  on the couch

   The parrot was sitting on Jim's shoulder.

   • Longfellow

     I stood on the bridge at midnight.

2. At or near; adjacent to.

   Soon we'll pass a statue on the left.

   The fleet is on the American coast.

   Croton-on-Hudson, Rostov-on-Don, Southend-on-Sea

3. Covering.

   He wore old shoes on his feet.

4. At the date of.

   Born on the 4th of July.

5. Some time during the day of.

   I'll see you on Monday.   The bus leaves on Friday.   Can I see you on a different day? On Sunday I'm busy.

6. Dealing with the subject of, about, or concerning something.

   A book on history.   The World Summit on the Information Society.

   • 1868, Anthony Trollope, He Knew He Was Right XI:

     ‘I received a note from that gentleman on a most trivial matter. I answered it as trivially.’

7. Touching; hanging from.

   The fruit ripened on the trees.   The painting hangs on the wall.

8. (informal) In the possession of.

   I haven't got any money on me.

9. Because of, or due to.

   To arrest someone on suspicion of bribery.   To contact someone on a hunch.

10. Upon; at the time of (and often because of).

    On Jack's entry, William got up to leave.

    On the addition of ammonia, a chemical reaction begins.

11. Paid for by.

    The drinks are on me tonight, boys.   The meal is on the house.   I paid for the airfare and meals for my family, but the hotel room was on the company.

12. Used to indicate a means or medium.

    I saw it on television.   Can't you see I'm on the phone?

13. Indicating a means of subsistence.

    They lived on ten dollars a week.   The dog survived three weeks on rainwater.

14. Away or occupied with (e.g. a scheduled activity).

    He's on his lunch break.   on vacation;  on holiday

15. Denoting performance or action by contact with the surface, upper part, or outside of anything; hence, by means of; with.

    to play on a violin or piano

    Her words made a lasting impression on my mind.

16. Regularly taking (a drug).

    You've been on these antidepressants far too long.   He's acting so strangely, I think he must be on something.

17. Under the influence of (a drug).

    He's acting crazy because he's on crack right now.

18. (mathematics) Having identical domain and codomain.

    a function on

19. (mathematics) Having ${\displaystyle V^{n}}$ as domain and V as codomain, for some set V and integer n.

    an operator on

20. (mathematics) Generated by.

    the free group on four letters

21. Supported by (the specified part of itself).

    A table can't stand on two legs.   After resting on his elbows, he stood on his toes, then walked on his heels.

22. At a given time after the start of something; at.
    • 2011 September 24, Aled Williams, “Chelsea 4-1 Swansea”, in BBC Sport:

      The Spain striker had given Chelsea the lead on 29 minutes but was shown a straight red card 10 minutes later for a rash challenge on Mark Gower.

23. In addition to; besides; indicating multiplication or succession in a series.

    heaps on heaps of food

    mischief on mischief; loss on loss

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

24. (obsolete, regional) of
    • Shakespeare

      Be not jealous on me.

    • Shakespeare

      Or have we eaten on the insane root / That takes the reason prisoner?

25. Indicating dependence or reliance; with confidence in.

    I depended on them for assistance.

    He will promise on certain conditions.

    Do you ever bet on horses?

26. Toward; for; indicating the object of an emotion.

    Have pity or compassion on him.

27. (obsolete) At the peril of, or for the safety of.
    • Dryden

      Hence, on thy life.

28. In the service of; connected with; of the number of.

    He is on a newspaper; I am on the committee.

29. By virtue of; with the pledge of.

    He affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honour.

30. To the account or detriment of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon.

    On us be all the blame.

    A curse on him!

    Please don't tell on her and get her in trouble.

    He turned on her and has been her enemy ever since.

    He went all honest on me, making me listen to his confession.

    • Bible, Matthew xxvii. 25

      His blood be on us and on our children.

31. (especially when numbers of combatants or competitors are specified) Against; in opposition to.

    The fight was three on one, and he never stood a chance.

• (dealing with the subject of): about, apropos, as for; See also Thesaurus:about
• (because of): by dint of, due to; See also Thesaurus:because of

• depend (on}
• put on airs
• phrases starting with "on the"

on (third-person singular simple present ons, present participle oning, simple past and past participle oned)

1. (transitive, Singapore, Philippines) to switch on

   Can you on the light?

   Synonym: turn on

From Old Norse ón, án (“without”), from Proto-Germanic *ēnu, *ēno, *ino (“without”), from Proto-Indo-European *anew, *enew (“without”). Cognate with North Frisian on (“without”), Middle Dutch an, on (“without”), Middle Low German āne (“without”), German ohne (“without”), Gothic 𐌹𐌽𐌿 (inu, “without, except”), Ancient Greek ἄνευ (áneu, “without”).

• ohn

on

1. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Without.

• Usually followed by a perfect participle, as being, having, etc.

From Japanese 音読み (on-yomi, literally “sound reading”).

on

1. In the Japanese language, a pronunciation, or reading, of a kanji character that was originally based on the character's pronunciation in Chinese, contrasted with kun.

   Most kanji have two kinds of reading, called "on" and "kun".

• N.O., NO, No, No., no, no-, no.

From Proto-Turkic *ōn (“ten”). Cognate with Old Turkic [Term?] (/on/, “ten”).

on

1. (cardinal) ten

From Proto-Basque *boń.

on

1. good
2. useful, convenient

• ahont, hon, hont (archaic)

From Old Occitan [Term?] (compare Occitan ont), from Latin unde (compare French dont).

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈon/

on

1. where

• “on” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “on” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “on” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “on” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• un (widely in free variation)
• en (some western dialects)

Ultimately from Old High German unde (unti), but native at most in south-eastern dialects. Otherwise adopted from (early modern) German und, replacing native en, from Old High German indi (whence also Luxembourgish an).

• IPA^(key): /on/

on

1. and

   Salz on Päfer

   salt and pepper

on, ōn

1. (demonstrative) that; those

• in

• Michel Launey; Christopher Mackay (2011) An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, Amazon Kindle: Cambridge University Press, pages Loc 1408

• ôn

From Proto-Celtic *ognos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷnós (“lamb”).

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ɔːn]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [oːn]

on m (plural en)

1. lamb

on

1. (cardinal) ten

From Proto-Slavic *onъ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eno-

• IPA^(key): /on/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -on

on m

1. he (third person personal singular)

• ona, ono
• oni, ony

• já
• ty
• my
• vy

on

1. rarely used as shorthand for oneven (odd), the prefix on- means not (corresponds to English un-)

• IPA^(key): /ˈon/

on

1. third-person singular present indicative of olema
2. third-person plural present indicative of olema

• IPA^(key): /ˈon/, [ˈo̞n]
• Hyphenation: on

on

1. Third-person singular indicative present form of olla.

   Se on tuolla.

   It is there.

   Se on ollut tuolla.

   It has been there.

• no

• l'on (formal)

From Old French hom, om (nominative form), from Latin homō (“human being”) (compare homme from the Old French oblique form home, from the Latin accusative form hominem). Its pronominal use is of Germanic origin. Compare Old English man (“one, they, people”), reduced form of Old English mann (“man, person”); Catalan hom; German man (“one, they, people”); Dutch men (“one, they, people”).

• IPA^(key): /ɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: ont

on

1. (indefinite) one, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual)

   Synonyms: quelqu'un (in some contexts), l'on (formal)

   • 2003, Natasha St. Pier, L’instant d’après (album), Quand on cherche l’amour (song)

     Quand on cherche l'amour... ― When one searches for love...

   On ne peut pas pêcher ici ― You can’t fish here

2. (personal, informal) we

   Synonym: nous (in some contexts)

   On s’est amusés. ― We had fun.

• In informal French, on has almost completely replaced the pronoun nous (“we”) to indicate the first person plural.
• The variant l'on is used in more formal or literary contexts.

• → Esperanto: oni

• “on” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• NO, nô

on

1. (in several dialects, including Low Prussian) Alternative form of un (and)

   Melk on Brot

   milk and bread

• IPA^(key): /on/, /ɔn/

on

1. Apocopic form of onu; one, someone, they (indefinite personal pronoun)

on

1. one (indefinite personal pronoun)

on

1. Rōmaji transcription of おん

on

1. (there) is

From Old English on, from Proto-Indo-European [Term?]. More at English on.

• IPA^(key): /on/

on

1. in; on

You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈoːn/

ōn

1. again

• Álgu database

From Proto-Germanic *ana

• IPA^(key): /on/

on

1. (West Saxon) on, in, at, among

on

1. (West Saxon) (with verbs of taking or depriving) from

• hon

See hom, om.

on

1. one (gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun)

• French: on

From Proto-Slavic *onъ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eno-.

• IPA^(key): /ɔn/

• audio

  (file)

on (plural: masculine personal oni, all others one)

1. he (for animate nouns), it (for inanimate nouns)

• ona, ono
• oni, one

on m

1. (obsolete) this (demonstrative)

• ja
• ty
• my
• wy
• Appendix:Polish pronouns

• on in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) onn
• (Puter) an

From Latin annus.

on m (plural ons)

1. (Sutsilvan, Vallader) year

From Proto-Slavic *onъ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eno-

• IPA^(key): /ôːn/

ȏn (Cyrillic spelling о̑н)

1. he

• njezin
• njegov

From Proto-Slavic *onъ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eno-; inflected forms from Proto-Slavic *jь, from Proto-Indo-European *éy.

• IPA^(key): /ɔn/

on

1. he (third-person personal masculine singular pronoun)

• on in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

From Proto-Slavic *onъ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eno-

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ́n/
• Tonal orthography: ȍn

òn

1. he

Forms between parentheses indicate clitic forms; the main forms are used for emphasis.