NYT Dictionary

AMONG

/əˈmɜŋ/
PrepositionAdverba-MONGa-mong · 2 syllablesGrade 3

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2020, 2023, 2025

Meaning

Of a person or thing: in the midst of and surrounded by (other people or things).

Etymology

Origin: Old English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-West Germanic *ga- Old English ġe- Old English mang Old English ġemang Old English onġemang Old English amang Middle English among English among The preposition is derived from Middle English among, amang, amange, amonge (“in the presence of, amid, among; in, within; between; during”), from Old English amang, onġemang (preposition), from on (“on, among, in”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”)) + ġemang (“crowd; mixture”, noun) (from ġe- (prefix forming nouns denoting association or similarity) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by; near; with”)) + mang- (from mængan, mengan (“to mingle, mix”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *menk- (“to knead; to press”))). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’) + mong (“crowd, throng; group”). The adverb is derived from Middle English among, amang (“accompanied by, along with, by the side of, in association with, together; all the while, continually; also, besides; at the same time; from time to time, occasionally; meanwhile; within”), from Old English onġemang (adverb): see further above. cognates * Dutch mank, maank (“among”) * German mang (“among”) (dialectal) * German Low German mank, manken (“among”) * Saterland Frisian monk, monken (“among”) * West Frisian mank (“among”)

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

amidamidstamongstatbetweenbetwixtbyfrominmid

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 3 recorded puzzles:

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