before vowels an-, word-forming element meaning: 1. "upward, up in place or time," 2. "back, backward, against," 3. "again, anew," from Greek ana (prep.) "up, on, upon; up to, toward; throughout; back, backwards; again, anew," from an extended form of PIE root *an- (1) "on, upon, above" (see on, which is the English cognate). In old medical prescriptions, ana by itself meant "an equal quantity of each."
masc. proper name, from Old French Andreu (Modern French André), from Late Latin Andreas (source also of Spanish Andrés, Italian Andrea, German Andreas, Swedish and Danish Anders), from Greek Andreas, a personal name equivalent to andreios (adj.) "manly, masculine, of or for a man; strong; stubborn," from anēr (genitive andros) "man" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man").
Nearly equivalent to Charles. Andrew Millar (1590s) for some forgotten reason became English naval slang for "government authority," and especially "the Royal Navy." St. Andrew (feast day Nov. 30) has long been regarded as patron saint of Scotland; the Andrew's cross (c. 1400) supposedly resembles the one on which he was crucified.
1620s, "womanish" (of a man); 1650s, "having two sexes, being both male and female," from Latin androgynus, from Greek androgynos "hermaphrodite, male and female in one; womanish man;" as an adjective (of baths) "common to men and women," from andros, genitive of anēr "male" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man") + gynē "woman" (from PIE root *gwen- "woman"). Related: Androgynal (1640s).
In Middle English, also of physical pain. Meaning "excite to wrath, make angry" is from late 14c. Related: Angered; angering.
chemical base used in making colorful dyes, 1843, coined 1841 by German chemist Carl Julius Fritzsche and adopted by Hofmann, ultimately from Portuguese anil "the indigo shrub," from Arabic an-nil "the indigo," assimilated from al-nil (with Arabic definite article al-), from Persian nila, ultimately from Sanskrit nili "indigo," from nilah "dark blue."
With suffix -ine indicating "derived substance" (see -ine (1); also see -ine (2) for the later, more precise, use of the suffix in chemistry). Discovered in 1826 in indigo and at first called crystallin; it became commercially important in 1856 when mauve dye was made from it. As an adjective from 1860.
