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ass

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ass"

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Assumbo.

Symbol

ass

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Ipulo.

See also

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

      From Middle English asse, from Old English assa, back-formed from assen (“she-ass”), from Celtic (compare Old Irish asan, Old Cornish asen), from Latin asinus. Displaced Old English esol, from Proto-West Germanic *asil, also a loanword from the same Latin word. Sense “stupid person” from the animal's reputation for stubbornness, going back to antiquity (compare Latin asinus (“slow-witted person”)).

      Noun

      ass (plural asses)

      Somali wild ass (Equus africanus somaliensis)
      1. Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden.
        Hypernyms: equine < equid < mammal < animal < creature, critter
        Hyponyms: donkey (loosely synonymous), onager, wild ass
        • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 16:20:
          And Iesse tooke an asse laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by Dauid his sonne vnto Saul.
        • 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Same [i.e., the Blacknesse of Negroes]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th book, 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.
        • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 51:
          […] suddenly a man, in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading an ass laden with wood by the bridle.
        • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 49:
          Pliny the Elder states that, to increase sexual potency, the right testis of an ass should be worn in a bracelet.
        • 1972, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part I, section 20(3)”, in Road Traffic Act 1972‎[2], page 14:
          In this section "animal" means any horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog.
      2. (now often vulgar from conflation with etymology 2, noun sense 1) A stupid or inconsiderate person.
        Near-synonyms: fool, idiot, jerk, asswipe; see also Thesaurus:jerk
        That new kid left the cap off the syrup bottle again! What an ass.
        He is such an ass for leaving the house door open.
      3. (printing, slang, obsolete) A compositor.
        • [1841, William Savage, Dictionary of the Art of Printing‎[3], page 24:
          Sometimes by way of joke, and sometimes by way of irritation, compositors are called Asses by the pressmen.]
      Derived terms
      Descendants
      • → Pohnpeian: ahs
      Translations
      See also

      Etymology 2

          Variant of arse; used chiefly in North America. Ultimately from Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Old High German ars (German Arsch), Old Norse ars, Old Frisian ers), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (compare Ancient Greek ὄρρος (órrhos)).

          Etymological notes

          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 assimilation of /ɹ/ before coronal consonants (especially /s/), a phenomenon that has been present in nonstandard speech from the Middle English period onwards; this is distinct from the later phenomenon of non-rhoticity as /ɹ/ was lost before it could modify the preceding vowel. Other instances of this phenomenon (some of which retained both spellings with different meanings) include cuss from curse, gash from garsh, bass (“fish”) from barse, bust from burst, passel from parcel; see Category:English terms with assimilation of historic /ɹ/ for a more extensive list.

          Noun

          ass (countable and uncountable, plural asses) (vulgar, slang, US)

          2. (countable and uncountable) The buttocks.
            Synonyms: see Thesaurus:buttocks
          3. (countable and uncountable) The anus.
            • 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 81:
              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.
            • 1997 Matt Stone & Trey Parker, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe," South Park, Season 1, Episode 1 (aired August 13, 1997), Spoken by Eric Cartman (Trey Parker)
              That does it! Now listen! Why is it that everything today has involved things either going in or coming out of my ass? I’m sick of it! It’s completely immature!
          4. (synecdochic, uncountable) Sex; a person to have sex with; with vulgar emphasis on their corporeality (their body) over their personhood.
            Synonyms: poontang, poon, punani, pussy, tail, tang; see also Thesaurus:copulation
            I'm going to go down to the bar and try to get me some ass.
            piece of ass
            • 1971, Joni Mitchell, “Blue”, in Blue:
              Acid, booze, and ass / Needles, guns, and grass
          5. (uncountable) 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 load of ass. ― What a bunch of lies/nonsense/disappointment.
          7. (synecdochic, countable) A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself or one's person, chiefly their body.
            Coordinate terms: face, hide
            Get your lazy ass out of bed!
            We risk our asses out there every day.
            I'ma get medieval on your ass! (idiomatic sense "on you" (compare go crazy on you), not literally and specifically "on your buttocks")
            • 2025 November 18, Brandon Drenon, quoting Clay Higgins, “The only 'no' vote on releasing Epstein files”, in BBC‎[4], archived from the original on 19 December 2025:
              "All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th," Higgins wrote.
            1. (by extension) One's personal safety, or figuratively one's job, prospects, etc.
              Mess up one more time and it's your ass on the line.
          Usage notes
          • When used synecdochically to refer to a (whole) person, 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".
          • The disapproval may not be of the person so referred to:
            • "And who do you think has to clean this mess up? My ass does!" (Does not indicate disapproval of the speaker themselves, but rather of the people who made the mess.)
              • (A hint of jaded self-perception may be perceived: "I realize how they see me!")
          • Such usage is usually considered vulgar and is thus usually confined to casual/informal registers; its use in formal contexts is mildly offensive.

          Its semantic essence is impersonalization (even of oneself), whereby a chief body part synecdochically represents the whole self, with a connotation emphasizing the person's corporeality over their personhood (from that viewpoint, compare also watch his hide, show his face, what's-his-face, meatbag, or crackhead).

          Alternative forms
          • @$$ (censored spelling)
          Derived terms
          Translations
          The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
          Translations to be checked

          Adjective

          ass (not comparable)

          1. (vulgar, slang, Canada, US) Of low quality; bad.
            Synonyms: cruddy, lousy, shoddy; see also Thesaurus:low-quality
            • 2019 February 5, Alex Miller, “Former Texas A&M QB Nick Starkel breaks down old Twitter beef with Tate Martell”, in Dallas Morning News‎[5]:
              On a recent episode of "The Justin Dunning Podcast," Starkel shared his thoughts on Martell, a former Ohio State quarterback, saying "he's ass my dude" in reference to Starkel.
            • 2021 February 21, Thomas Carannante, “Patriots: Cam Newton getting disrespected by a teenager is everything that’s wrong with society”, in Fansided‎[6]:
              For some reason, the teenager thought it’d be a good idea to criticize Newton and say he's "ass" and that he’s "about to be poor" because he's a free agent.
            • 2021 October 28, Josh Weinfuss, “What we learned about Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray by watching him on Twitch”, in ESPN‎[7]:
              "You're so ass," Murray says to another player.

          Particle

          ass

          1. Synonym of -ass (used to intensify an adjective).
            That was one big ass fish!
            That's an expensive ass car!

          Further reading

          • Archibald A. Hill (1940), “Early Loss of [r] before Dentals”, in PMLA, volume 55, number 2, →DOI, pages 308-359
          • L. Sprague de Camp (1971), “Arse and ass”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, volume 1, number 2, →DOI, pages 79–80
          • L. A. Hill and S. S. Eustac (1972), “On Arse and Ass”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, volume 2, number 2, pages 79–80

          Anagrams

          Cornish

          Etymology 1

          (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

          Interjection

          ass

          1. how
          Derived terms

          Etymology 2

          See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

          Noun

          ass

          1. soft mutation of gass (“gas”)

          References

          “ass” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

          German

          Verb

          ass

          1. Switzerland and Liechtenstein standard spelling of aß

          Latgalian

          Etymology 1

          From Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśís. Cognates include Latvian ass and Lithuanian ašis.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): [ˈasʲsʲ]
          • Hyphenation: ass

          Noun

          ass f (diminutive aseite)

          1. axle
          Declension
          Declension of ass (type 6 noun)
          singular plural
          nominative ass ass, asis
          genitive ass ošu
          dative asei asim, ašom1)
          accusative asi ass, asis
          instrumental asi asim, ašom1)
          locative asī asīs, ašuos1)
          vocative ass ass, asis

          1) dialectal

          Etymology 2

          See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): [ˈass]
          • Hyphenation: ass

          Participle

          ass (feminine asūte, masculine plural asūts, feminine plural asūts)

          1. present oblique participle of byut

          References

          • M. Bukšs; J. Placinskis (1973), Latgaļu volūdas gramatika un pareizraksteibas vōrdneica, Latgaļu izdevnīceiba, page 131

          Latvian

          Vagona ass
          Ass

          Pronunciation

          Etymology 1

          From Proto-Balto-Slavic *aśís, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-.[1] Originally an i/n-stem, it became an i-stem in Baltic.[2]

          Noun

          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
          Declension
          Declension of ass (6th)
          singular plural
          nominative ass asis
          genitive ass asu
          dative asij asīm
          accusative asi asis
          instrumental asi asīm
          locative asī asīs
          vocative ass asis

          Etymology 2

          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”).[2]

          Noun

          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
          Declension
          Declension of ass (6th)
          singular plural
          nominative ass asis
          genitive ass asu
          dative asij asīm
          accusative asi asis
          instrumental asi asīm
          locative asī asīs
          vocative ass asis

          Etymology 3

          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 (óstăr), 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”).[2]

          Adjective

          ass (definite 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
          Declension
          Indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of ass
          masculine (vīriešu dzimte) feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
          singular
          (vienskaitlis)           		plural
          (daudzskaitlis)           		singular
          (vienskaitlis)           		plural
          (daudzskaitlis)
          nominative ass asi asa asas
          genitive asa asu asas asu
          dative asam asiem asai asām
          accusative asu asus asu asas
          instrumental asu asiem asu asām
          locative asā asos asā asās
          vocative — — — —
          Definite declension (noteiktā galotne) of ass
          masculine (vīriešu dzimte) feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
          singular
          (vienskaitlis)           		plural
          (daudzskaitlis)           		singular
          (vienskaitlis)           		plural
          (daudzskaitlis)
          nominative asais asie asā asās
          genitive asā aso asās aso
          dative asajam asajiem asajai asajām
          accusative aso asos aso asās
          instrumental aso asajiem aso asajām
          locative asajā asajos asajā asajās
          vocative aso, asais asie aso, asā asās
          Synonyms
          Antonyms
          Derived terms

          References

          1. ^ Derksen, Rick (2015), Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 63
          2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “ass”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary]‎[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN.

          Luxembourgish

          Verb

          ass

          1. is (third-person singular present of sinn)
            De Poopst ass dout.
            The Pope is dead.

          Manx

          Etymology

          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.

          Pronunciation

          Preposition

          ass

          1. out of

          Inflection

          Inflection of ass
          Person: simple emphatic
          singular first assym assym's
          second assyd assyd's
          third m ass assyn
          f assjee assjeeish
          plural first assdooin assdooinyn
          second assdiu assdiuish
          third assdaue assdauesyn

          Pronoun

          ass

          1. first-person plural of ass
            out of him/it

          Middle English

          Etymology 1

          Noun

          ass

          1. (Northern or Late Middle English) alternative form of asse

          Etymology 2

          Noun

          ass

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

          Norwegian Bokmål

          Alternative forms

          • Ass (alternative capitalization)

          Etymology 1

          Possibly short for altså (“you know”).

          Interjection

          ass

          1. (informal, greater Oslo area) A sound that marks the end of a sentence, and which otherwise doesn't mean anything.
            • 2016 November 23, Urd Vindenes, “«Språk er rart, ass»”, in Språknerderiet‎[8] (overall work in Norwegian Bokmål), retrieved 16 October 2023:
              Språk er rart, ass
              Linguistics are weird, yo

          Synonyms

          Etymology 2

          Noun

          ass m (definite singular assen, indefinite plural asser, definite plural assene)

          1. (music) A-flat

          Norwegian Nynorsk

          Alternative forms

          • Ass (alternative capitalization)

          Noun

          ass m (definite singular assen, indefinite plural assar, definite plural assane)

          1. (music) A-flat

          Old Irish

          Alternative forms

          Pronunciation

          Pronoun

          ass

          1. third-person singular masculine of a

          Swedish

          Pronunciation

          Etymology 1

          Noun

          ass n

          1. (music) A-flat; the note A♭
          Declension
          Declension of ass
          nominative genitive
          singular indefinite ass ass
          definite asset assets
          plural indefinite ass ass
          definite assen assens

          Etymology 2

          Noun

          ass n

          1. an insured letter; abbreviation of assurerad (försändelse)
            Coordinate term: rek (“registered”)
          Declension
          Declension of ass
          nominative genitive
          singular indefinite ass ass
          definite asset assets
          plural indefinite ass ass
          definite assen assens

          Anagrams

          Tarifit

          Etymology

          Etymology tree
          Proto-Berber *ʔ-f-w?
          Proto-Berber *a-săf
          Tarifit ass

            Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-săf.

            Pronunciation

            • (Nador) IPA(key): [ɛsː]
            • Syllabification: ass
            • Rhymes: -ɛsː

            Noun

            ass m (plural ussan, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵙⵙ)

            1. day
              Synonym: nnhar
            2. daytime
              Synonym: aziř

            Inflection

            Inflection of ass
            singular plural
            free state ass ussan
            annexed state wass wussan

            References

            Tashelhit

            Alternative forms

            Etymology 1

            Etymology tree
            Proto-Berber *ʔ-f-w?
            Proto-Berber *a-săf
            Medieval Tashelhit اسڢ (asef)
            Tashelhit ass

              Inherited from Medieval Tashelhit اسڢ (asef, “day”), from Proto-Berber *a-săf (“day”), possibly from *ʔ-f-w (“to be luminous, to shine, to dawn”). Cognate with Zenaga aṢ (“day, walk of a day”), Tarifit ass (“day”), Ghadames āsăf (“day”).

              Pronunciation

              Noun

              ass m (plural ussan, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵙⵙ, Arabic spelling آسّ)

              1. day
                ندي واسّ ― ndi wass ― yesterday
                اي واسّ ― i wass ― per day
                كو ياسّ ― ku yass ― every day
                آسّ ن الحد ― ass n lḥd ― Sunday
                اوسّان اد لّي زرينين. ― ussan ad lli zrinin ― these past days
              Inflection
              Inflection of ass
              singular plural
              free state ass ussan, issan
              annexed state wass ussan, wissan
              Derived terms

              Etymology 2

              From Proto-Berber *assəs (“to tie”). Cognate with Zenaga äššiš and Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵙⵙ (ass, “to tie”)

              Pronunciation

              Verb

              ass (imperfective ttass, verbal noun assas, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵙⵙ, Arabic spelling آسّ)

              1. to attach securely , to link, to tighten (a screw, a knot), to tie
                يوسّت س يزيكر. ― yuss t s izikr. ― he tied it with a rope.
              2. to be painful, hard (life, situation)
                ايخ توسّ لوقت، د لحين تفسي.
                ix tuss luqt, d lḥin tfsi.
                after the difficult times come the easy times.
              Derived terms
              • ass afus (“to economize”)
              • assas (“cord, tie, pression, misery”)

              References

              • Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 1 A–E (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/1) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 449a
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