DictionaryRoot: ad-
Latin

ad-

to, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

Forms

  • ad-
  • ac- — Used before c in Latin.
  • af- — Used before f in Latin.
  • ag- — Used before g in Latin.
  • al- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ap- — Used before p in Latin.
  • ar- — Used before r in Latin.
  • as- — Used before s in Latin.
  • at- — Used before t in Latin.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *ad, ‘to; near.’

Note

Later Latin-based spellings sometimes restored consonants that had disappeared in French.

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A woman makes a small adjustment to the fit of her eyeglasses, gently nudging the frame upward onto the bridge of her nose.
verb

adjust

uh-JUST/əˈdʒʌst/

To change enough to fit particular conditions.

Etymology

The pieces originally expressed bringing things near one another. Through the sense of fitting things together properly, the word came to mean changing something to conform to a standard or another thing.

Full entry

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