indefinite article


nounGrammar.
  1. an article, as English a, an, that denotes class membership of the noun it modifies without particularizing it.

Origin of indefinite article

1
First recorded in 1720–30

Words Nearby indefinite article

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use indefinite article in a sentence

  • We remember that the Latin language has neither a definite nor an indefinite article.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland

British Dictionary definitions for indefinite article

indefinite article

noun
  1. grammar a determiner that expresses nonspecificity of reference, such as a, an, or some: Compare definite article

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for indefinite article

indefinite article

The word a or an introducing an unspecified noun or the name of a general category: “a dog,” “an apple,” “an orange.” An is used when the next word begins with a vowel or a silent (unpronounced) h, as in “an egg” or “an hour.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.