1. ABOARD, meaning on board of, is from the prefix or preposition a and the noun board, which here means "the deck of a ship" or vessel. Abord, in French, is approach, arrival, or a landing.
2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abútan, or Abúton,] meaning around, at circuit, or doing, is from the prefix a, meaning at, and the noun bout, meaning a turn, a circuit, or a trial. In French, bout means end; and about, end, or but-end.
3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning over, or, literally, at-by-over, or at-by-top, is from the Saxon or Old English a, be, and ufa, or ufan, said to mean "high, upwards, or the top."
4. ACROSS, at cross, athwart, traverse, is from the prefix a and the word cross.
5. AFTER, [Sax. Æfter, or Æftan,] meaning behind, subsequent to, is, in form, the comparative of aft, a word common to seamen, and it may have been thence derived.
6. AGAINST, opposite to, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or Ongegen, each of which forms means again or against. As prefixes, on and a are often equivalent.
7. ALONG, [i.e., at-long,] meaning lengthwise of, near to, is formed from a and long.
8. AMID, [i. e., at mid or middle,] is from a and mid; and AMIDST [, i.e., at midst,] is from a and midst, contracted from middest, the superlative of mid.
9. AMONG, mixed with, is probably an abbreviation of amongst; and AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from a and mongst, or the older "Ge-meneged," Saxon for "mixed, mingled."
10. AROUND, about, encircling, is from a and round, a circle, or circuit.