Word: on Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Middle English on English on From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola a, an, ana, on (“on”), Saterland Frisian an (“on; at”), West Frisian oan (“on; to, towards”), Cimbrian aan, å (“on, onto”), Dutch aan (“on; at”), Low German an (“on; at, to”), German an (“at, in; on”), Luxembourgish un (“on; at, to”), Yiddish אָן (on, “on, onward”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish å (“on”), Elfdalian ą̊ (“on”), Faroese and Icelandic á (“in; on”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana, “at, on”); also Umbrian 𐌀𐌌- (am-), 𐌀𐌍- (an-, “up, upon”), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, upon”) (whence Greek ανά (aná, “by, through, per”)), Albanian në (“in; on”), Latvian no (“from; out of; for; of; with”), Lithuanian nuo (“from, off; for, of”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian на (na, “on”), Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene na (“on”), Serbo-Croatian на, na (“on”), Old Armenian ան- (an-, “at, on, unto”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish på (“on”), Norwegian Nynorsk paa, på (“on”), see upon. Pronunciation: /ɒn/, /ɔn/, /ɑn/, [ɒːn ~ ɔːn], /än/ 1. In the state of being active, functioning or operating. Labels: not-comparable Example: All the lights are on, so they must be home. 2. Happening; taking place; being or due to be put into action. Labels: not-comparable Example: We had to ration our food because there was a war on. Example: Some of the cast went down with flu, but the show's still on. 3. Happening; taking place; being or due to be put into action. Labels: informal, not-comparable Example: "Five bucks says the Cavs win tonight." ―"You're on!" Example: If he wants a fight, he's on! 4. Fitted; covering or being worn. Labels: not-comparable Example: Your feet will soon warm up once your socks are on. Example: I was trying to drink out of the bottle while the top was still on! 5. Of a stated part of something, oriented towards the viewer or other specified direction. Labels: not-comparable, postpositional Example: The photograph shows the UFO side on. Example: edge on, side on, end on, face on 6. Acceptable, appropriate. Labels: UK, informal, not-comparable Example: It's not fair to do that – it's just not on. Example: This kind of over-packaging of goods is completely not on. 7. Possible; capable of being successfully carried out. Labels: not-comparable Example: Climbing up that steep ridge isn't on. We'll have to find another route. Example: He'd like to play the red next to the black spot, but that shot isn't on. 8. Available; remaining. Labels: not-comparable Example: Smith is 25 points ahead with only 23 on. 9. Having reached a base as a runner and being positioned there, awaiting further action from a subsequent batter. Labels: informal, not-comparable Example: With one out and no men on, Tristen Carranza belted a ball to the opposite field for a solo home run to put the NM State deficit at just 2-1. Example: Although Stanford was outhit 15-6, the Cardinal stranded eight runners to UCLA's three, hitting just 3-15 with runners on compared to the Bruin's 9-22. 10. Within the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman. Labels: not-comparable Example: The captain moved two fielders to the on side. Example: Ponsonby-Smythe hit a thumping on drive. 11. Of a ball, being the next in sequence to be potted, according to the rules of the game. Labels: not-comparable, postpositional Example: If the player fails to hit the ball on, it's a foul. 12. Acting in character. Labels: not-comparable 13. Performative or funny in a wearying manner. Labels: informal, not-comparable Example: He always has to be on, it's so exhausting. 14. Menstruating. Labels: euphemistic, not-comparable Example: It still gets in the way of her doing things like swimming, and she avoids sleepovers when she's "on".