ad

1 of 7

noun (1)

often attributive
1
: advertisement sense 1
newspapers ads
TV ads for new cars
2
: advertising
an ad agency

ad

2 of 7

noun (2)

AD

3 of 7

abbreviation (1)

1
active duty
2
after date
3
4
Alzheimer's disease
5
anno Domini
often printed in small capitals and often punctuated
6
assembly district
7
assistant director
8
athletic director
9
right ear
used especially in audiology and in writing medical prescriptions

A/D

4 of 7

abbreviation (2)

analog/digital

ad-

5 of 7

prefix

variants or ac- or af- or ag- or al- or ap- or as- or at-
1
: to : toward
usually ac- before c, k, or q
acculturation
and af- before f
affluent
and ag- before g
aggradation
and al- before l
alliteration
and ap- before p
apportion
and as- before s
assuasive
and at- before t
attune
and ad- before other sounds but sometimes ad- even before one of the listed consonants
adsorb
2
: near : adjacent to
in this sense always in the form ad-
adrenal

-ad

6 of 7

adverb suffix

: in the direction of : toward
cephalad

-ad

7 of 7

noun suffix

: member of a botanical group
bromeliad

Examples of ad in a Sentence

Noun (1) did you see the ads in the paper for cheap round-trip flights to Florida?
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Noun
Harris outpaced Trump in ad support despite having essentially launched her presidential campaign less than four months earlier. Dan Mangan,kevin Breuninger,jake Piazza,annie Nova,rebecca Picciotto,ece Yildirim, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024 Democrats have roughly doubled their national ad spending advantage against Republicans over the last month or so, per analytics platform AdImpact. Monica Eng, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024 In the ad, the wife exchanges knowing glances with another female voter, before filling in her choice for Harris. Jason Ma, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024 The issue has been in the spotlight recently following the release of an ad narrated by actor Julia Roberts that encourages women to vote for Vice President Harris, even if their husbands are voting for former President Trump. Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ad 

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

by shortening

Noun (2)

by shortening

Prefix

borrowed from Latin, prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives, marking movement toward, tendency, addition, from ad, preposition, "to, as far as, at, near, in accordance with" — more at at entry 1

Adverb suffix

borrowed from Latin ad "to, toward" — more at at entry 1

Noun suffix

borrowed from New Latin -ad-, -as, borrowed from Greek -ad-, -as, feminine noun suffix denoting descent from or connection with

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ad was in 1799

Dictionary Entries Near ad

Cite this Entry

“Ad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ad. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

ad

1 of 2 noun
ˈad

ad-

2 of 2 prefix
variants or ac- or af- or ag- or al- or ap- or as- or at-
: to : toward
usually ac- before c, k, or q and af- before f and ag- before g and al- before l and ap- before p and as- before s and at- before t and ad- before other sounds but sometimes ad- even before one of the listed consonants
Etymology

Prefix

Latin ad- "to, toward"

Medical Definition

AD

abbreviation
1
2
3
[Latin auris dextra] right ear
used especially in audiology and in writing medical prescriptions
4
average deviation

More from Merriam-Webster on ad

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