An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/an

by Friedrich Kluge

an, preposition, adverb, ‘on, by, along,’ from Middle High German ane, Old High German ana, preposition, adverb, ‘on, in, upon’; it corresponds to Gothic ana, preposition, adverb, ‘on, upon, in,’ Anglo-Saxon, English on, preposition, adverb, Dutch aan, Old Saxon an. Primitively allied to Greek ἀνά, ‘upon, on,’ Zend ana ‘upon,’ Latin an- in anhélare, ‘to respire,’ Old Slovenian vŭ (for *on).