ad

¹

[ad]

noun

1. advertisement.

2. advertising.

   an ad agency.

-ad

²

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Greek denoting a group or unit comprising a certain number, sometimes of years: dyad; triad .

2. a suffix meaning “derived from,” “related to,” “concerned with,” “associated with” (oread ), introduced in loanwords from Greek (Olympiad; oread ), used sporadically in imitation of Greek models, as Dunciad , after Iliad .

a.d.

³

Or A.D.

abbreviation

1. in the year of the Lord; since Christ was born.

   Charlemagne was born in a.d. 742.

ad

⁴

[ad]

noun

Tennis.

1. advantage.

2. ad in, the advantage being scored by the server.

3. ad out, the advantage being scored by the receiver.

-ad

⁵

1. variant of -ade: ballad .

a.d.

⁶

abbreviation

1. before the day.

ad

⁷

[ad]

preposition

1. (in prescriptions) to; up to.

-ad

⁸

1. Anatomy, Zoology.,  a suffix forming adverbs from nouns signifying parts of the body, denoting a direction toward that part: dextrad; dorsad; mediad .

a.d.

⁹

abbreviation

1. after date.

2. autograph document.

ad-

¹⁰

1. a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “toward” and indicated direction, tendency, or addition: adjoin . Usually assimilated to the following consonant; a-, ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-.

ad.

¹¹

abbreviation

1. adverb.

2. advertisement.

A.D.

¹²

abbreviation

1. active duty.

2. anno Domini. Also a.d.

3. art director.

4. assembly district.

5. assistant director.

6. athletic director.

7. average deviation.

AD

¹

abbreviation

1. anno Domini Compare BC

   70 ad

2. military active duty

3. military air defence

4. Dame of the Order of Australia

-ad

²

suffix

1. a group or unit (having so many parts or members)

   triad

2. an epic poem concerning (the subject indicated by the stem)

   Dunciad

ad-

³

prefix

1. to; towards

   adsorb

   adverb

2. near; next to

   adrenal

-ad

⁴

suffix

1. denoting direction towards a specified part in anatomical descriptions

   cephalad

ad

⁵

/ æd /

noun

1. short for advertisement

ad

⁶

/ æd /

noun

1. Brit equivalent: van. short for advantage

ad

⁷

abbreviation

1. Andorra

Usage

In strict usage, _ad is only employed with specific years: he died in 1621 ad , but he died in the 17th century (and not the 17th century ad ). Formerly the practice was to write _ad preceding the date ( ad 1621 ), and it is also strictly correct to omit in when _ad is used, since this is already contained in the meaning of the Latin anno Domini (in the year of Our Lord), but this is no longer general practice. _bc is used with both specific dates and indications of the period: Heraclitus was born about 540 bc ; the battle took place in the 4th century bc

Because anno Domini means “in the year of the Lord,” its abbreviation a.d. was originally placed before rather than after a date: The Roman conquest of Britain began in a.d. 43 (or began a.d. 43). In edited writing, it is still usually placed before the date. But, by analogy with the position of b.c. “before Christ,” which always appears after a date ( Caesar was assassinated in 44 b.c. ), a.d. is also frequently found after the date in all types of writing, including historical works: The Roman emperor Claudius I lived from 10 b.c. to 54 a.d. Despite its literal meaning, a.d. is also used to designate centuries, being placed after the specified century: the second century a.d.

Word History and Origins

Origin of AD¹

First recorded in 1795–1800; by shortening

Origin of AD²

Greek -ad- (stem of -as ), specialization of feminine adjective-forming suffix, often used substantively

Origin of AD³

From Latin annō Dominī

Origin of AD⁴

First recorded in 1915–20; by shortening

Origin of AD⁵

From Latin ante diem

Origin of AD⁶

From Latin

Origin of AD⁷

From the Latin word ad toward, anomalously suffixed to the noun; introduced as a suffix by Scottish anatomist John Barclay (1758–1826) in 1803

Origin of AD⁸

< Latin ad, ad- (preposition and prefix) to, toward, at, about; cognate with at ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of AD¹

(sense 4) Latin: in the year of the Lord

Origin of AD²

via Latin from Greek -ad- (plural -ades ), originally forming adjectives; names of epic poems are all formed on the model of the Iliad

Origin of AD³

from Latin: to, towards. As a prefix in words of Latin origin, ad- became ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an-, acq-, ar-, as-, and at- before c, f, g, l, n, q, r, s, and t, and became a- before gn, sc, sp, st

Origin of AD⁴

from Latin ad to, towards

Example Sentences

The newspaper ad, from 1996, features a man logging on to his home computer to trade stocks.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Advising viewers to reach out for a free consultation, he said in an ad shared on Instagram, “What do you have to lose?”

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Cooper and her team this June used the annual Cannes Lions ad festival to pitch their nascent agency to brands.

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“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,” Sweeney said in one ad.

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Some of the advertising industry’s largest players have joined forces to propose new standards for transparency in the digital auctions that increasingly dominate ad sales.

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