Earlier form of the numeral ONE; retained in the north. The OE. án began c. 1150, to be reduced bef. a cons. to a; in the south, ān, ā were, bef. 1300, regularly rounded to ōn (oon, one), ō (oo) in the full original sense of the numeral; but when the sense was weakened to that of the ‘indef. article’ (see next) they continued to be written an, a (ăn, ă). In the north, the spelling an, a, was retained in both senses, the stress alone (as in Ger. ein, Fr. un) distinguishing the numeral from the article; and an was at length commonly written ane, which spelling, though proper to the numeral (ane = ān, with e mute indicating long vowel), was, especially by Sc. writers, used for the article also. See ANE, A adj.2, and, for the senses, ONE; the following instances illustrate the form only.
1. OE. and early ME.: in all dialects.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xii. 29. Drihten God user God an is.
c. 1000. Ags. G., Matt. x. 29. An of ðám.
1131. O. E. Chron. Næ be læf þær noht an.
c. 1220. Hali Meid., 23. Bi hu muchel þe an passed þe oþre. Ibid., 25. Nimeð an after an.
a. 1230. Ancr. R. (MS. C.), Pref. 23. Or anes cunnes fuheles.
1297. R. Glouc., 223. Anne stroc he ȝef hym.
2. Late ME. and modern: northern. (Thet an—thet other were here written the tan—the tother.)
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19339. All als an þai gaf ansuer. Ibid., 20860. Þe tan was blisced and te toþer.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 4085. An sal come þat sal hald þe empire. Ibid., 259. Ane of þer four.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, IX. 4062. Archisalus was an … And Protheno … þat other.
c. 1430. Syr Gener., 1337. Not an word ageyn he yaf.
c. 1620. A. Hume, Brit. Tong., 7. Distinguished the ane from the other.
