ab- (also abs- before certain consonants) is a particle, most often a
prefix, that occurs in many languages. In
Latin it was both a
prefix and a
preposition meaning "off, away (from), departing from, outside of" and expressed the idea of removal, absence, separation, or a lower value. It first appeared in
English in the
Middle English period in words borrowed from
Old French, and continued to be borrowed in
Modern French words and eventually from
Classical Latin, especially in the vocabulary of
science,
medicine,
botany, and so on.
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A prefix in many words of Latin origin. It signifies from, away , separating, or departure, as in abduct, abstract, abscond. See A-(6).