aback
/əˈbæk/ adverb, noun
Forms abacks
- adverb (archaic, Geordie) Towards the back or rear; backwards.
- adverb (archaic) In the rear; a distance behind.
- adverb By surprise; startled; dumbfounded. (see usage)
- adverb (nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
- noun (obsolete, Early Modern) An inscribed stone square.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc, equivalent to a- (“towards”) + back. Compare West Frisian tebek (“aback”, adverb, literally “to/at back”), Swedish tillbaka (idem.).
Webster’s 1913
- adverb Toward the back or rear; backward. "Therewith aback she started." Chaucer.
- adverb Behind; in the rear. Knolles.
- noun An abacus. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Etymology [Pref. a- + back; AS. on bæc at, on, or toward the back. See Back.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “aback”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details