æ-, prefixThe stress form of OE.a-(see a- prefix 1) used with ns. and adjs., the unaccented a- being used with verbs. Meaning: out, off, onward, away; hence, from idea of doing away, a privative =un-, -less. Thus ǽ-fyrmða washings off, ablutions, ǽ-gilde without payment, ǽ-mód out of his mind, ǽ-scære unshorn, without tonsure, ǽ-rist arising, ǽ-cumba what is combed off, oakum. Only a few examples survived in ME. as e-rede unadvised, æ-rist, a-rist rise. The West Germ. dialects had two forms answering to Goth.us- (ur-): viz.OHG.ur-, OE.or- with ns. and adjs.; OHG.ar-, er-, ir-, mod.G. er-, OE.ar- (rarely preserved), a- with vbs., ǽ- with ns. and adjs. This ǽ- represented an earlier ā- for ar- (ˈǽmód=ˈâmód=ˈarmód, like strǽte=WGer.strâte). ær- reappears in Layamon in ær-wene, ær-witte (where it may be due to a mixture of OE.ǽ- and or-).