ad

¹

[ ad ]

noun

1. advertisement ( defs 1, 2 ).
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 for

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 ( def 5 ).
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 ¹: ballad .

a.d.

⁶

abbreviation for

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 for

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- ⁵, ac-, af-, ag-, al-, an- ², ap- ¹, ar-, as-, at-.

ad.

¹¹

abbreviation for

1. adverb.
2. advertisement.

A.D.

¹²

abbreviation for

1. active duty ( def ).
2. anno Domini ( def ). Also a.d.
3. art director ( def ).
4. assembly district ( def ).
5. assistant director.
6. athletic director.
7. average deviation.

-ad

¹

suffix forming adverbs

1. denoting direction towards a specified part in anatomical descriptions

   cephalad

ad

²

/ æd /

noun

1. short for advertisement

ad

³

the internet domain name for

1. Andorra

ad

⁴

/ æd /

noun

1. short for advantage Brit equivalentvan

-ad

⁵

suffix forming nouns

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

⁶

abbreviation for

1. indicating years numbered from the supposed year of the birth of Christ anno Domini Compare BC

   70 ad

2. military active duty
3. military air defence
4. Dame of the Order of Australia

ad-

⁷

prefix

1. to; towards

   adverb

   adsorb

2. near; next to

   adrenal

Usage Note

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.

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

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

from Latin ad to, towards

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

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

Origin of ad⁴

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

Example Sentences

In the fall of 2003, The Social Contract ran an ad encouraging its readers to join the Sierra Club so that they could help elect “leaders who will redirect this vital organization toward genuine environmental stewardship.”

From Salon

FAIR’s newsletter published the same ad.

From Salon

Eventually, there’s a chance it winds up in the photo gallery of a Stake employee, where your content becomes an ad for the company.

From Slate

Patient zero for this ad experiment appears to be X user @FearedBuck, who started as a Milwaukee Bucks fan account but later pivoted to posting Kick clips full time.

From Slate

The only thing that’s changed is that the Stake watermarks now have clarifying text, often reading “Gamble Responsibly” or “This Is An #Ad,” in addition.

From Slate