any - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Clipping of English Anyin.

any

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Anyi.

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-West Germanic *ainag

Middle English ani

English any

From Middle English any, eny, ony, ani, aniȝ, eniȝ, æniȝ, from Old English ǣniġ (“any”), from Proto-West Germanic *ainīg, *ainag, from Proto-Germanic *ainagaz, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), equivalent to one +‎ -y.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian eenich (“some”), West Frisian iennich (“only”), Dutch enig (“any, some”), Afrikaans enig (“any”), German Low German enig (“some”), German einig (“some”); via Proto-Indo-European *óynos cognate with Latin ūllus (“any”), Latin ūnicus (whence Italian unico (“unique”), French unique (“unique”)). Piecewise doublet of unique.

any (not comparable)

  1. To even the slightest extent, at all.
    If you get any taller, you'll start having to duck through doorways!
    That doesn't bother me any. (chiefly US usage)
    You don't seem to be any the worse after such a tragic experience.
    • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 104:
      'That wouldn't surprise me any.'

at all

any

  1. (chiefly in the negative or interrogative, chiefly with plural or uncountable nouns) One at all; at least one; at least one kind of; some; a positive quantity of.
    Antonyms: zero, no
    Hyponyms: (countable) one; a few, a couple of, a handful of, several; multiple, various; a lot of, many, numerous; countless; (uncountable) a little, much
    Near-synonym: some
    Do you have any biscuits?
    Do you have any food?
    Do you think there's any point to/in trying to explain?
    It won't do you any good.
    "Give me your pen." — "I don't have any pen."
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
  2. A/an, each or some, no matter its/their identity or nature.
    Choose any item you want.
    Any person may apply.
    Press any key to continue.
    The character '#' matches any digit 0–9.
    Please bring some plates — any plates will do.
    I'll drink any whiskey you've got.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. In complexion fair, and with blue or gray eyes, he was tall as any Viking, as broad in the shoulder.
    • 2006 February, Chuck White, Developing Killer Web Apps with Dreamweaver MX and C#, Wiley, page 269:
      [a-z]: A range of characters that matches any character in the specified range. For example, [a-z] matches any lowercase alphabetic character in the range a through z.
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
  3. (with time designations) An unspecified but imminent (second, minute, day etc.).
    They'll be arriving any day.
    I expect the phone to ring at any moment.

at least one (kind)

no matter what kind

any

  1. Any thing(s) or person(s).
    Any may apply.

Any things or persons

Inherited from Latin annus, from Proto-Italic *atnos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et-no-, probably from *h₂et- (“to go”).

any m (plural anys)

  1. year
    un home de 26 anys ― a 26-year-old man
    Quants anys tens? ― How old are you?
    Bon any nou! ― Happy new year!
    Avui faig anys ― Today is my birthday

any

  1. alternative form of ani

any

  1. alternative form of anoy

any

  1. alternative form of anoyen

any

  1. alternative form of anũ

any

  1. alternative form of aany
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6, page 86:
      Yith w'had any lhuck, oor naame wode b' zung,
      If we had any luck, our name would have been sung