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

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Pop-Tarts followed up with a full-page ad in The Kansas City Star as well as a post on Instagram asking Swift for the proprietary recipe. Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2024 Major players are cracking down on password sharing, laying off employees, slowing their spending sprees and offering lower-cost subscriptions that come with ads — the same old-timey model that over-the-airwaves broadcast TV uses. Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 4 Mar. 2024 The Standing Strong Super PAC has spent $8.5 million as of this week, mostly on ads highlighting Garvey’s conservatism. David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 2 Mar. 2024 The games don’t currently contain ads or in-app purchases. Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2024 As a young girl growing up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Rose Audrey Clark loved fashion magazines, pictures of glamorous gowns and colorful makeup ads. Linda Marx, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 For its part, Meta has wound down CrowdTangle, a tool that allowed researchers and journalists to track the spread of posts, and cut off researchers at New York University who were studying political ads and Covid-19 disinformation. Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2024 Volkswagen's Super Bowl ad pays homage to the 75 years since the company first arrived in the U.S. Be sure to vote for your favorite Super Bowl ad with Ad Meter! USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 Elevated browsing experience with fewer ads and unlimited article saving power an enhanced reading experience. Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 19 Mar. 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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