Æ

See also: æ, Ӕ, Ǽ, Ǣ, ᎪᎬ, Appendix:Variations of "a", Appendix:Variations of "e", ᵆ, and Appendix:Variations of "ae"

Æ U+00C6, Æ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER AE ← Å [U+00C5] Latin-1 Supplement Ç → [U+00C7]

English

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ, plural Æs or Æ's)

1. (chiefly dated or linguistics) A ligature of vowels A and E, called ash.

   Synonym: ash

2. (archaic) aevum; formerly used on gravestones to indicate the deceased's age at time of death

Usage notes

• Mostly used for words of either Ancient Greek or Latin origin, though also used when referencing Old English texts or using recently derived Old English loanwords.
• Uncommon in modern times mainly due to its absence in some typographical equipment.

See also

• Œ

Proper noun

Æ

1. The pseudonym of the Irish writer George William Russell.

Anagrams

• EA, Ea, ea, ea.

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/, [ɛːˀ]

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. The antepenultimate letter of the Danish alphabet.

Inflection

Declension of Æ

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	Æ	Æ'et	Æ'er	Æ'erne
genitive	Æ's	Æ'ets	Æ'ers	Æ'ernes

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bogstav; A a (Á á), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y (Ý ý), Z z, Æ æ (Ǽ ǽ), Ø ø (Ǿ ǿ), Å å

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛa/
• Homophones: a, A, æ

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstavur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, Y y, Ý ý, Æ æ, Ø ø

French

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ø dɑ̃ l‿a/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. Ligature of the letters A and E.

   Synonym: e dans l'a

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈaiː] (letter name and context pronunciation)

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Ultimately from the Latin ligature Æ, formed by joining A and E. The Latin sequence ⟨ae⟩ originally represented a diphthong, but later developed a monophthongal pronunciation, allowing the joined character to be associated with a single front vowel sound.

The character was adopted with the Latin alphabet into medieval Scandinavian writing and used to represent native front unrounded vowels. In Danish and Norwegian, ⟨Æ, æ⟩ became established as an independent letter rather than merely a typographical ligature. Swedish and German instead developed the corresponding letter ⟨Ä, ä⟩, originally written with a small ⟨e⟩ above ⟨a⟩.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æː
• Homophone: æ
• Hyphenation: Æ

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

Æ m (definite singular Æ-en, indefinite plural Æ-er, definite plural Æ-ene)

1. The uppercase form of æ, the twenty-seventh letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script and placed between Z and Ø.

   Navnet begynner med stor Æ. ― The name begins with a capital Æ.

2. the front unrounded vowel sound represented by the letter, especially long /æː/ or short /æ/

   Ordet uttales med lang æ. ― The word is pronounced with a long æ sound.

Usage notes

• Although ⟨Æ, æ⟩ originated as a ligature of ⟨A, a⟩ and ⟨E, e⟩, it is treated as a separate letter in Norwegian and is not alphabetized as ⟨AE, ae⟩.
• The letter is alphabetized after ⟨Z, z⟩ and before ⟨Ø, ø⟩.
• Before ⟨r⟩, the letter generally represents /æ(ː)/. In many other environments, its pronunciation may coincide with that of ⟨e⟩ as /ɛ/ or /eː/, although this varies between dialects.
• Danish also uses ⟨Æ, æ⟩, while Swedish and German normally use the corresponding letter ⟨Ä, ä⟩.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bokstav; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Æ æ, Ø ø, Å å

References

• “Æ” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “Æ” in Norwegian Academy Dictionary (NAOB).
• “Æ (bokstav)”, Store norske leksikon

Norwegian Nynorsk

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Norwegian Nynorsk alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bokstav; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Æ æ, Ø ø, Å å

Noun

Æ m (definite singular Æ-en, indefinite plural Æ-ar, definite plural Æ-ane)

1. the letter Æ

References

• “Æ” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ/

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. uppercase version of æ, letter of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet, listed in 24th and final position by Byrhtferð (1011); Called æsc (“ash tree”) after the Anglo-Saxon ᚫ rune

Swedish

Letter

Æ (upper case, lower case æ)

1. Historical Swedish letter, now obsolete and rarely used, replaced by A, E and Ä.

See also

• Category:Swedish terms spelled with Æ
• Aͤ, aͤ
• Œ, œ